


Peaches

by jolimelon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Domestic, Drinking, Existentialism, Family, Fluff, Gay Shiro (Voltron), Light Angst, M/M, References to Illness, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Shiro (Voltron) is Keith's Dad, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2019-10-20 03:42:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 48,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17614772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jolimelon/pseuds/jolimelon
Summary: Adam, the up and coming romance novelist, hits a writing block when his estranged father passes away. He returns to his countryside hometown to find closure, and instead finds something much more grand than he bargained for. His neighbour of the past, Takashi Shirogane- now a single father and the owner of his families peach orchard, is continuously thrown into his life by the strange forces of fate. Not that Adam is complaining. Add in a senile elderly mother, and a two-timing ex boyfriend-- that's where things get complicated.[A.K.A Adashi in a really cheesy romance novel cliche-filled story.]





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys like this! Like I said in the summary, expect this to just be really cheesy cliche romance-novel level story telling. (Adashi deserve it, amen.)
> 
> I'm going to try to update every other day! Updates will be short but frequent!

_**Spring breathes something new into my heart, and allows a fresh hope to blossom in the places formerly resided by something much darker; much more grim. I am not it's prisoner nor it's hostage, I am it's willingly host allowing myself to be consumed in the all too foreign feeling within my heart. The birth of spring love.**_

Despite the words he typed rapidly onto the keyboard of his typewriter, Adam meant very little of what he wrote. It was a mere work of fiction, but, for whatever reason he could not fully comprehend, it was what his readers liked to consume, and so he continued to write such pieces that he did not care for. 

In reality, spring had little meaning to Adam. It had done him no favours, and he had no special feelings of nostalgia to associate with it. It was no more than a season that actively irritated his allergies, and caused the earth to become muddy beneath the mounds of melting snow. It was, in his own bluntly spoken process of thought, a gross season. 

Regardless, there were other factors causing Adam's mind to become clouded amidst his work, things unrelated to his dislike for the season. He had recently heard news from his hometown that was causing his mind to halt all production. 

His elderly father, who had been sick for some time, passed away the previous night. Adam hadn't known about his fathers illness until then, much less the severity of it. 

Regardless, his mind didn't know how to process this news, or how to feel about it. No matter how long he stared at the manuscript spread out on the top of his desk, he couldn't come up with a satisifying reaction, and so, very easily, he gave up each time without a fight. 

He knew that his return to his hometown was inevitable, though he had no desire to step foot there ever again. It was a countryside town with little to offer. His family had run a small farm. It was nothing like the others in town, but was enough to get by on. Their sales were primarily local, and the neighbouring farms often traded their goods, so there was never a shortage of food in the house. 

Adam was never particularly fond of the farm life, though. The mornings were far too early, and the work much too harsh. As soon as he could walk on his own, he was expected to help out, and it didn't stop until well into his adult years. 

He hadn't always gotten along with his parents. Infact, he rarely had. Adam wasn't a bad child by any means, but because of his growing love for writing, he had been treated as an outlier that simply needed to work more to get his hopes and dreams out of his system. 

And it had even worked for awhile. By the time Adam had reached high school, he hadn't written anything unrelated to school work for many years. His ambitions were a thing of the past, and he had more or less succumbed to his fate of forever being shackled to his old family farm. 

However, this phase of Adam's life would not last forever either. 

After graduating high school, Adam had begun to privately embark on a romantic endeavor with a boy his age named Roy. His parents at first knew nothing of his relationship due to how heavily guarded Adam kept the secret, but alas, little towns were infamous for their gossip. In no time at all, the truth had been revealed and Adam had no choice but to confess what he had been keeping from his parents for a long time. He was gay. 

He had feared their reactions for nearly half of his life, expecting only the worst from his small town parents. Yet, he had instead been met with deafening silence. They didn't speak to him for days. 

In ways, Adam craved any sort of reaction from his parents, even a negative one- to a degree. Any sort of recognition would put his skyrocketing anxiety at ease. Yet, there was nothing. For days spanning into weeks, his parents kept their acknowledgments of Adam to a minimal. 

And then, without any prompting to do so, they suddenly began to act as if everything was normal again. It was as if no such controversy had ever occurred in Adam's life. He knew then that he had only two options. 

The first option was the safe one. Adam could choose to resume his life as usual. Farm life wasn't for him but it was something he knew well, and so long as he and his parents continued to ignore the topic of his sexuality, he could live in their home until it was his turn to one day take over the farm. 

The second option was more risky, but far more appealing. If Adam owned his sexuality and didn't allow it to become a faded secret of his past, then he would feel as if he could finally be free'd from the confines of his parents home. He could move away, preferably somewhere far, and though he had no idea how he would get through life on his own, he would be able to do things his own way for once. 

In the end, Adam chose the latter of the options, and decided that, at the age of twenty-one, he would move away from home and start his own life in the city. His relationship with Roy, despite the lasting gossip it had inspired, was a short-lived flame that had long since been blown out. 

There were no ties keeping Adam to his hometown any longer. He spoke sparingly to his parents over the following years, with the occasional call or letter around the holidays. His visits were far and few between, with no more than two within the same three year span. 

He began a new life in the city. It wasn't easy, but he was willing to accept the challenges it faced him with simply so that he could enjoy his independence to the fullest. 

Many long, exhausting jobs passed him by until a publishing firm finally decided to give Adam's writing a chance, and so, his first novel was published. For him, it had been his very first passion project. A novel in which he had written over the course of several years, based on an exaggerated re-telling of his short-lived summer romance with Roy, had done exceptionally well for the work of a new comer. 

Adam was signed on for more work, and he was eager to get to it. However, one problem continued to loom over him for his next several novels- people only seemed to like his work when it was about romance. 

It wasn't as if Adam had an issue with romance. He simply hadn't experienced it to the degree he wrote about. He had never felt that raw, burning passion that was so prevalent in his stories, and yet, people couldn't get enough of it. Maybe because it was so exaggerated. Maybe because it was spot-on. He didn't know. Maybe he never would. 

Oddly enough, the life of a author was a lot more solitary than Adam ever could have imagined it to be. 

And so, that brought Adam to the present day. He had published several novels, hadn't been home in several years, and found himself in the deepest writing slump that he had faced in his career. 

It was time to go home again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is when the story really begins with the fated first (but not really first) meeting of Adam and Shiro! We will get to learn all about Shiro's life this time! Stay tuned! But also lemme know what you think if you read this! Thanks!


	2. Shirogane's Story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-daaaah! Here's the introduction of Shiro's story!! Hope you like it!! Keep an eye peeled for something that might sound a little... familiar.. hmmm! Sorry the writing is stiff and awkward since these introductory chapters are so backstory focused! But I promise that by the end of this one- we finally arrive to the main story in the present day!

A day that begins at five in the morning, and doesn't end until well after the sun has gone down perhaps would sound too overwhelming for most people, but for Takashi Shirogane, the work was invigorating and helped him keep in shape both mentally and physically. 

The peach farm that he had been born and raised on was something that he had learned to be more prideful of with each passing year. 

It was a family farm, handed down from generation to generation on his father, Tex's, side of the family. His mother, Krolia, had married into the lifestyle, but having already been a fit woman herself, she had quickly adapted to the hard work required to maintain the land. Not even becoming pregnant with her first and only child, Takashi, had stopped her from doing her part. 

The Shirogane family was well-liked in the community, small as it may be. Their peach farm was famous by small-town standards and they would even host events during prime picking season that would attract more business, and thus, more traffic in the community. 

Shiro hadn't always liked being raised on a farm, however. During his early teenage years, he found himself going through a particularly difficult splurge of youthful rebellion. He would stay out late at night, skip his classes, and had even picked up a nasty smoking habit. Though his acts were never cruel to another human being, it was clear to see that he was heading down a potentially dark path if no changes were made. 

His parents were stern, though loving, but try as they may, they could only do so much while they waited for Shiro's rebellion to reach it's end. 

After some time, the cure needed was a heavy self evaluation on Shiro's behalf in order to return to his senses. After seeing how exhausted his friends and parents were becoming with him, he realized that his actions were still harmful to them even if they weren't seemingly committed with malicious intentions. Shiro was a good person at heart, and he didn't want his silly childhood mistakes to follow him into his adult years, so he took immediate action. He became more serious about his schooling again, eventually stop smoking, and began to work harder than ever before while assisting his parents on the farm. 

Years down the line, his hard-working attitude led Shiro to an out-of-town university where he lived away from home for the very first time in his life. He majored in business, eventually graduating at the top of his class, and became the first person in his family to finish his post-secondary schooling. 

Before he had decided where to take his next step in life, Shiro had returned home to his comfortably familiar lifestyle, when something completely unexpected had happened. He had fallen in love. 

It was with a man that he had known throughout his schooling years, but had never gotten to know until he had returned to town. 

His name was Roy, and for Shiro it was a very rapid, burning love that had consumed him faster than he ever could have expected. 

Shiro had decided to remain in town for the time being, working on the farm while he and Roy became serious about their future together. Though their relationship was fresh, there was something about it that made Shiro believe that it could stand the test of time. 

The two became married no more than a year later, or rather, they were married as much as they could be. It was before the marriage of two men was legal within their small town, but they still hosted a small ceremony with their friends and family, and wore rings to show their commitment to one another. 

Afterward, they had moved into an apartment together located at the outskirts of the city, and then found jobs in the area. 

Shiro wasn't sure how he felt about working in the business field. It wasn't quite as thrilling as his young heart desired, but the pay was good enough for him to bare with it for the time being. After all, he and Roy had already begun talks of having children together. 

The idea of having a family of his own was always something that Shiro had dreamed of. Growing up, his family was quite small. He never had any siblings to play with, and neither had his parents, which, of course, had resulted in him not having even a single distant cousins or anything of the sort. 

Aside from seeing the kids at school, Shiro often felt isolated, as if he were the only child left on earth. He knew that, one day, when he was much older and grown up, he wanted to be married and have many children so that no child of his would go through the same loneliness he had felt. 

Or so, that had been his plan for some time. 

Things changed once Shiro and Roy began to put their child-baring plans into action. They had found the perfect surrogate, she had become pregnant, and like clockwork, she had given birth to a healthy baby boy nine months later.

The baby was Shiro's spitting image in every sense, and because of that, Shiro had allowed Roy to choose his name. He decided on Keith. Admittedly, it wasn't Shiro's ideal name choice for the child, but he agreed nonetheless, knowing that it was far from the first compromise he made in his marriage. 

Keith's new little presence in the apartment proved to be full of trials and tribulations. He was a colic baby, meaning that fluctuating abdominal pain caused him to cry at all hours of the day and night. There were few treatments for the pain, most techniques only soothing it temporarily, but nothing would make it completely vanish until it eventually faded away in it's own time. Until then, the young parents were to do what they could to ease the troubles of the baby. 

It wasn't long until Roy decided that he couldn't handle it. 

During the second week of Keith's life, Roy left the apartment in one of the rare quiet instances in which Shiro and Keith had both drifted into silent deep slumber. He left behind a short note, that despite it's brevity had packed quite a punch. 

_'I can't fucking do this. I'm gonna lose my mind. Wishing the best for you and the baby, but count me out.  
-Roy.'_

Shiro didn't cry that day, though there might have been a part of him that wished he could. As much as he hated to admit it at the time, he had a hidden sense that things would turn out that way since the day that they had brought Keith home. 

And so, in one fell swoop, Shiro had become a clueless, single father. 

No longer able to afford a city apartment on his salary alone, Shiro had made the decision to leave his job and move back to his childhood home. His parents were more than happy to welcome him back, giving a helping hand with the baby whenever they could. 

Once Keith was no longer colic, he had become much easier to handle. He had fits just as any other baby did, but they were no longer a constant occurrence. After the rough first few months of Keith's life, Shiro could handle it with no trouble at all. 

Shiro had been quick to re-adjust to life on the farm. He had found a suitable babysitter to watch Keith during the days- a young college-aged boy from across the street. His name was Matthew Holt, and during the days that he didn't have classes, he was more than happy to watch the baby for part-time pay. 

By the time Keith had become six months old, he had already experienced his first Halloween, Christmas, and new years. It was a lively beginning to his life, and Shiro was all the more grateful for the many distractions it had given him. 

Shiro's life was a mess, he couldn't deny that, but he loved Keith more than anything. For that simple reason alone, he wouldn't change a thing about his life, because every unfortunate experience had somehow, in some way, resulted in him receiving the most precious gift of them all. 

Maybe Keith couldn't do much besides drool and babble yet, but Shiro was proud of him nonetheless. He had come a far way since his colic days, and could even sit up all by himself. Shiro firmly believed that Roy was missing out on something great, but also that he and Keith were better off living the life they currently lived together without him. 

"It's his loss, isn't it?" Shiro would coo to the infant who was much too young to understand the meaning of his words. "Now I have the sweetest wittle baby in the world aaaall to myself." 

It wasn't always easy- infact, it rarely was. But Shiro was an optimist at heart, determined to raise his baby in a happy and loving home no matter the circumstances.

* * *

"... And thiiiiis is your nose." Shiro stated enthusiastically, pressing the tip of Keith's nose with his index finger. The baby scrunched his nose up in response, batting Shiro's hand away with his arm. "Hey now. You'll be really grateful that I taught you all of this one day." 

There were three curt knocks at the door, drummed in neat succession. Shiro sighed a breath of relief, having run out of ways to entertain his baby while awaiting the arrival of the babysitter. He scooped Keith up into his arms, careful to support him while his other hand twisted the knob and opened the door up. He didn't bother to look as he handed Keith off to the man on the other side of the door, because he didn't think that it was necessary. Nobody ever came around the farm during a weekday, much less so early in the morning. 

Leaving the door open, Shiro began to prepare his arms with a thick coat of sunscreen suitable for working outdoors while he gave the usual morning speech to the babysitter.

"I have the same old list of stuff for you to remember, and I know you get the point by now, Matt, but I just really want to re-iterate that you have to- and I mean really have to- yell as loudly as you can and **immediately** if Keith suddenly starts to walk or talk. I don't want to miss that. And another thing, if he-" 

Shiro finally turned to face the man on the other side of the door, his face becoming a pale white as his eyes locked with a complete stranger.

He was a tall man dressed in a fitted suit with thick half-rimmed glasses. He had dark skin and short brown hair that curled at the ends to frame his sharp jawline. He looked familiar in a sense that Shiro couldn't put into thought, but as far as he knew, the man was no more than a stranger.

The man had awkwardly held Keith up in his hands, positioned about a foot away from his body. The baby remained suspended in the air, staring at the man with wide-eyed wonder. 

"I'm sorry, I thought you were somebody else," Shiro quickly said, scooping Keith back into his arms. "He usually cries when a stranger holds him so I just assumed-" 

"It's alright," The man stated awkwardly, "I'm sorry to bother you so early in the morning." 

Shiro sat Keith on his hip, and the baby leaned in, pressing his head contently against his fathers chest with his eyes unmoved from the stranger. 

"No worries. How can I help you?" 

"I was wondering if I could use your phone. My car broke down in front of your property," The man explained. 

"Sure," Shiro answered, "But do you mind if I ask what the problem is?" 

The man hesitated to respond for a moment, opening his mouth to speak before shutting it again. He shrugged his shoulders, a quiet breathy laugh escaping his lips. "I have no idea. It's just not working."

"You're not from around here, are you?" Shiro asked, no hint of judgement in his tone. The man shook his head to indicate that his estimate rung true. "Roadside assistance could take hours, maybe even days, to reach you out here. You mind if I take a look at it?" 

"Would you? I'd really appreciate it." 

Shiro nodded his head. "Sure thing, suits." 

"It's Adam," The man responded, extending a firm hand forward. Shiro took him by the hand, giving a firm shake. 

"You can call me Shiro," he replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked that chapter and Adam & Shiro's first meeting! Let me know what you thought, and thanks for reading this far!


	3. May 1996

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, just like the chapter title implies, this story is taking place in the mid-to-late 90s! I don't think it came up just yet but it's first referenced in this chapter! Enjoy!

After spending restless hours of the night motivating himself to bite the bullet and get into his vehicle, Adam had begun his long descent back to the hometown he had grown to despise oh-so very much. 

The drive over was as long and boring as the town itself, which did no favours for Adam's ever-growing foul mood. 

_Just bare with it. Get it over with, and you'll never have to go back again._

For Adam, it felt necessary that he return home if not only for the simple fact that he genuinely believed confronting the demons of his past would be a major move toward his future, and would better his career in the long run. 

There was no reconciling with his father; his death had made that impossible, but maybe, just maybe, things could be different with his mother this time. The death of her husband could have opened her eyes, making her realize that she had to cling to what little family she had left, but Adam wasn't holding his breath. 

Truth be told, he highly doubted that things would be okay ever again. Unresolved troubles had gone on for too long, reaching an irreparable state forevermore. 

At the very least, Adam possessed a heart, and for that reason, he wouldn't allow his mother, a grieving widow, to be left with hefty funeral tasks all by herself. He would do his part to contribute, hopefully get some closure, and then move on with his life. 

The remaining duration of the drive was spent in quiet thought, as Adam did his best to forget about the troubles at hand while mentally formulating the plot-line of his next novel. Though he found it difficult to come up with anything that pleased himself, he found that it was good enough of a distraction to pass the time. 

By the time Adam had arrived, everything from the smell in the air to the weathered town sign had felt as if they'd been frozen in time. Had even a moment passed since his last departure? He couldn't believe it. The land had been eerily untouched by the hands of time while his life had moved forward. 

It wasn't much longer until he would make it to his old house, and he found himself unconsciously beginning to drive slower with each street that brought him closer. 

Only twenty minutes left. 

Then ten. 

Then five. 

And that was when the car broke down. 

Just in front of his neighbours property, with only five minutes left until he would arrive to his own house, the vehicle suddenly made a loud noise and refused to go any further. Adam groaned loudly in defeat, slumping his forehead against the steering wheel while he considered his options. 

He could just walk the rest of the way home. The drive wasn't long, but the walk was. Especially up the driveway. God, he hated walking up that old driveway. 

Or, and he didn't bother considering any other options after he had thought of it, he could ask to borrow the neighbours phone and call roadside assistance, wait for them to arrive and fix his car, and then continue on his way. 

Before his plan was fully set in motion, Adam had already found himself walking up the driveway of the towns famous peach tree farm. 

Just like everything else, it had appeared to be untouched by the hands of time, looking exactly as it had in the past. Though Adam supposed that there were only so many ways that a farm could change in appearance, it still left an ominous feeling inside of him, something that wasn't quite nostalgic but lingered along those same lines. 

As he arrived to the front door of the household, Adam let out a short breath before giving three prompt knocks. He hardly had to wait even a moment before the door had swung open, and a baby was suddenly placed into his hands. The man that had opened the door didn't stop to look at who had arrived, and Adam could only assume that he thought he was somebody else. 

The man then began to speak, giving a long-winded speech about child-care instructions while applying sunscreen to his arms. He didn't stop for a single breath, giving Adam no chance to cut in and introduce himself. 

Most uncomfortable was the deep, piercing gaze coming from the infant's eyes. He stared so intensely at Adam that he almost swore he was staring beyond his eyes and deep into his soul instead. It was unsettling.

He held the baby away from his body awkwardly, unsure of whether his grip should remain tight or loose. He'd never held a baby before, much less have one tossed into his arms suddenly without warning. 

And then, unexpectedly, the corners of the baby's lips curled up into a subtle smile and he stuck out the tip of his little tongue. Perhaps it was a sign of trust? Approval? Adam really had no idea. For all he knew, the baby just thought he was funny looking. 

"I'm sorry, I thought you were somebody else," The man suddenly cut himself off, his eyes shooting wide open as he caught a glimpse of Adam. He quickly retrieved his infant back into the safety of his own arms. "He usually cries when a stranger holds him so I just assumed-"

"It's alright," It was Adam's turn to cut in, having already felt awkward enough about the ordeal. "I'm sorry to bother you so early in the morning."

* * *

"Wait, so let me get this straight, you're Adam as in... farmer Sohail's son? We're neighbours?"

Adam nodded his head, "We always have been. Well... Until I moved away, anyway." 

"Wow," Shiro breathed quietly, "You just look so different. You've gotten so tall. I'm sorry I didn't recognize you." 

"I could say the same to you." Adam replied. 

Despite having been neighbours their entire childhoods, Adam and Shiro's homes both had a large plot of land between each other. It wasn't as likely to run into a neighbour in the countryside as it was in the city, so the two hadn't particularly played much  
together while they were young. They attended the same school, but gravitated towards different hobbies and cliques. They had been acquaintances at best, only knowing each other by name.

"I'm sorry about your father," Shiro said, each word treaded with caution. "I just heard about his passing. He was a good man." 

"Thanks," Adam responded, despite feeling that the condolences were unnecessary. 

A moment of quietness swept over the two as they continued down the long pathway leading down the Shirogane property and back onto the road where Adam's car had stopped working. Shiro had taken Keith along with him, a sunhat now placed on his head to keep him safe from the suns harsh rays, and in his other hand, he carried a rectangular toolbox. 

"So, you have a kid now." Adam commented, mentally scolding himself for his awkward choice of wording. Despite being an author, he often found himself struggling with his spoken words being as eloquent.

"Yeah, his name is Keith. He's seven months old." Shiro explained. "He's a little bit of a grump sometimes, but once you get to know him he's well-mannered and likes to sleep a lot." 

"Ah, I see." Adam replied. He knew nothing about children, much less infants, which, in his mind, were the same thing as children just smaller. 

By that time, the two had arrived to Adam's car, and Shiro had set the toolbox on the side of the road. He shifted Keith around in his arms, holding him out in the other man's direction. 

"Would you mind holding him while I give it a look?" Shiro asked, "He doesn't seem too fussy today so I don't think he'll be much trouble." 

"Sure," Adam agreed. After all, Shiro was doing him a major favour, the least he could do was hold his baby. 

Once again, Keith didn't object to being placed into the arms of the strange man that he didn't know. On the contrary, he seemed unusually curious, his eyes practically bulging as he stared up at him. 

Shiro began to observe the car, first trying to start the engine himself, and then popping the hood to get a closer look at the inner workings. Each time he disappeared beneath the hood to tinker with the engine, Keith would let out a short wail until he came back into sight. 

"I'm right here, buddy," Shiro would reassure him, and the baby would smile again.

It was kind of cute, Adam had to admit on a subconscious level, to see the unconditional love on a baby's face lighting up once his father came back into view. 

"Do you have any kids?" Shiro asked out of the blue, his gaze remaining beneath the hood of the car. 

"No, I don't," Adam answered curtly. "This is my first time even holding a baby." 

"Oh? No kidding," Shiro laughed. "Well you're doing a fine job, in that case." 

As Shiro leaned further into the car, his shirt slid up just enough to draw Adam's attention to the contours of his abs, causing him to look away in a bashful hurry. 

_His skin is revealed, sparingly, as the white tank top he wears slips up his side and reveals sun-kissed abs that are compact and strong- the result of hard labour that I could only imagine._

Adam mentally scolded himself for only _just then_ being inspired enough to form a sentence of writing in his mind.

_Seriously? Here? Now? Come on._

"Oh, here's the problem. One of these parts is completely worn out." Shiro stated bluntly as he stood back up, adjusting his shirt where needed. 

"Will it be expensive to fix?" Adam asked, raising a brow. 

"You'll need a replacement but it doesn't cost too much. A mechanic might charge a lot for the fix, though, so if you can get the piece, I can put it in no problem." 

"Really? You would?" 

"That's what neighbours are for." Shiro smiled. 

Before the conversation could continue, an unfamiliar voice bellowed in the distance, belonging to a boy with light brown hair who was jogging towards the Shirogane property.

"Sir! I'm so sorry! I'm late!" 

Shiro turned to face the boy and shook his head, "It's okay, Matt. I haven't started working yet." 

The boy referred to as Matt had stopped running at that point, slumping over with his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. 

"I... I didn't mean to sleep in. Sorry." 

"I said it's okay," Shiro laughed. "Keith has been enjoying the company of our new guest, anyway." 

Matt looked up quickly, as if he was only then noticing the presence of the third man. "What? He let somebody else hold him?"

"Mhmm," Shiro hummed, "I'm just as surprised." 

"Huh. I don't feel so special anymore." 

"Here, you can take him." Adam said, feeling a little awkward at the center of the conversation. He handed Keith off to Matt, causing the baby to let out a short wail of displeasure.

"Oh great." Matt grumbled. "Now we're back to square one! I really thought we were friends now, Keith!" 

Keith continued to cry, flailing his tiny arms around in his fit of anger until Shiro began to soothingly run a hand across his little chest. 

"There, there. You're okay. It's your pal, Matt," Shiro coo'd, his voice several octaves higher than usual. "He's gonna play with you while daddy works, okay? I love you lots." He pecked Keith's cheeks several times over. Keith didn't seem entirely satisfied but his crying had ceased nonetheless. 

"Matt, don't forget-" Shiro began to speak to the boy, his voice returning to it's usual pitch, before he was abruptly cut off. 

"Yell for you if Keith starts to walk or talk, I know. I know." Matt stated with a wave of his hand. "I promise you won't miss a thing, sir." 

Shiro laughed. "Thanks," he said, "Just take him up to the house, and I'll come check on you guys in a little while." 

Nodding promptly, Matt turned and gave a quick nod to Adam as well before he took his leave up the driveway, Keith's crying beginning once again before he was even halfway there. 

With no more interruptions, Shiro and Adam faced each other again, resuming their earlier conversation. 

"Sorry but there's not much I can do for you until you have the new part. I can give you a ride to the shop if you'd like." said Shiro, as he began to pack up his toolbox. 

"That would be a big help, thanks," Adam smiled, "But for now, I really need to get home so I'll just walk over. Maybe tomorrow?" 

"Tomorrow works for me." 

Adam glanced briefly at Shiro's ring finger on his left hand, the glint against it's silver band catching his attention several times over already. "Your wife is probably wondering where you've gone off to, anyway." he commented. 

"Wife?" Shiro furrowed his eyebrows, and then, catching Adam's look at his ring, he quickly added, "Oh, no, no, there's no wife. Husband, actually. Well-- Ex-husband. He left not long after Keith was born." 

"Oh," Adam blinked, "I'm sorry. He sounds like an asshole." 

"I don't like to talk poorly about people, but, I mean, I'm not going to disagree." 

"Was he from town or?"

"Yeah," Shiro replied, "We went to school with him. Roy F." 

Adam paused, blinking several times over as his mind ran a complete blank. 

His fling of the past- the very man who had inspired his first novel- had grown up to be a complete deadbeat. He knew he shouldn't expect anything else from a small town boy, but somehow he still found himself surprised. 

"I dated him a few years after high school, too." Adam stated, an awkward shift in his posture as he did so. 

"Really?" Shiro's eyebrows raised, "What year?" 

Adam pretended to ponder for a moment- but the truth was that he still remembered the exact date in which they had started to see each other. It wasn't as if he had _fallen in love_ or anything- or, at least he didn't think he had, but it had been his first major fling, so he couldn't forget it that easily. 

"I think it was... 1991 or something." he eventually answered. 

"Hm," Shiro hummed in thought. "That's the year I started to see him." 

"Oh. It must've been after he and I stopped seeing each other." 

"Yeah, yeah, that could be." Shiro paused, and then added, "Out of total curiousity though, would you happen to remember what month you stopped dating?" 

"It's so hard to remember all the way back," _It was September 3rd, 1991. A rainy night._ "It must've been at the end of the summer." 

Shiro was quiet for a minute, before he said, "We started dating in July that year. I had no idea he had a side piece, though." 

"Side piece?" Adam raised his eyebrows. "In all fairness, if he and I were dating first then I think that made you the side piece." 

"No offense but I don't agree. I mean, who marries the side piece?" 

Adam couldn't quite explain why he was suddenly growing so irritated with Shiro's words. He had gotten over Roy a long time ago- infact, he had never been that hung up on him in the first place, but being called a side piece hadn't sat well with him even if Shiro's intentions hadn't been bad. 

"Because that worked out so well for you, right?" 

Adam knew he had blown it before he had even finished his sentence. Shiro stared at him, mouth agape as he furrowed his eyebrows. He had clearly crossed the line, taking things a step too far with a subject still sensitive to the touch.

"You should call roadside assistance when you get home," Shiro grumbled, gathering his things. "They can fix up your car for you." 

Shiro turned away before Adam could respond, though he wouldn't know what to say even if he had the chance to reply. If only to himself, he could admit that he had taken things too far, but he wasn't going to dwell on it either. 

_He started it, anyway._

With a roll of his eyes, and a long drawn out sigh, Adam began his dreaded walk to the never ending driveway of his childhood home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes, what a sour note to end on. Stay tuned to see what happens next, and let me know what you're thinking so far!


	4. The Roy Haters Club

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Q slur warning! A piece of dialogue in this chapter includes the Q slur. Nothing vehemently homophobic is stated or done, regardless I thought I'd include a little warning so nobody is blind-sided by the brief usage of the Q slur.
> 
> Sorry this update was slower & rougher than usual! A lot of irl stuff was coming up but I hope you enjoy regardless!

The distance from the road to Adam's house was much longer than it needed to be. For whatever reason that Adam could never understand, countryside houses loved being hidden far behind the trees and bushes that surrounded the property. Whether it was for a sense of security, or simply for the aesthetic appeal, Adam had always hated it. There was no sense in a pathway being more than a ten minute walk. 

Aside from his dislike of the long journey, Adam's mind had officially become swarmed with a new problem that he couldn't have seen coming from a mile away- his argument with his neighbour, Shirogane. 

There was something about it that was clouding over his mind completely. On any other day, he could brush off an argument with somebody who was practically a stranger like it was no big deal, but something about his argument with Shirogane was more unsettling than just some random dispute. 

Perhaps because the topic was so personal for the both of them. Perhaps because their reasons to argue in the first place were entirely childish on both of their behalf's.

No matter the reason, Adam knew he felt uncomfortable leaving things as they were. He would have to speak to Shiro again sometime and sort things out, but first he had a more pressing matter to attend. 

His mother, Alma. 

Alma could be a hot and cold type of person, and her parenting style was no different. At times she could be overbearing, loving but too much to handle, and then other times she could be distant, indifferent, and uncaring of all going on around her. There was little middle ground between the two, and Adam could never be certain of what he would be dealing with. 

He walked on eggshells while in the presence of his mother to avoid confrontation, though it was not always successful. They both had strong personalities that made them unafraid to share their bluntly honest opinions, oftentimes resulting in a clash. Neither backed down from an argument easily, creating an awkward tension during the times in which they had opposing opinions. 

If Adam could see any bright side to the situation, it would be that, at the very least, his mother had always been the easier of the parents to deal with. If the roles had been reversed and it had been her to pass away instead, Adam was almost positive that his father would have been a nightmare to deal with. 

There was no time to waste anymore as Adam arrived to the porch of his house, the same old floor boards creaking beneath his feet as he walked to the door, giving three prompt knocks. After a moment, his mother opened the door, smiling meekly at the sight of her son. 

"Adam, you took so long to get here," Alma sighed, bringing her son into a hug, who stiffly returned the gesture. 

"I had car problems." Adam explained, "It broke down in front of the Shirogane's place." 

"It broke down next door and it still took you this long to get here?" 

Adam sighed audibly, stepping passed his mother and into the house. It was going to be a long week. 

"It doesn't take that long to get from there to here, that's all I'm saying." Alma persisted. 

"I know." Adam replied, talking slowly so as to not lose his temper already. "The son had a look at it for me." 

"Oh, the one with the baby? Did you know he was queer? I didn't know until recently." 

"Mom." Adam cut in, giving his mother a long, exasperated stare. "You know I hate that word." 

Alma shook her head slowly. "You need thicker skin. You've been in the city too long." 

"I've been here for two minutes, mom. Can we not do this?" 

"Fine, alright. No need to get all sensitive. It's just a word. I didn't even say it in a bad way." Alma groused. She walked back into the house, taking a seat on the living room couch. 

Adam's parents had always been more set in their ways than the parents of his peers. While couples like the Shiroganes were having children in their early twenties, Adam's parents had been married for some time and had not been planning to have children when Adam had unexpectedly come around. His father had been forty-five at the time of Adam's birth, and his mother only two years younger. Now, twenty-seven years later, his mother was a proper white-haired old woman in her seventies. 

Adam couldn't help by feel a twinge of guilt, knowing that his mother was going through a lot of pain all on her own with nobody to help her until then. He still felt irritation regarding her ignorance, but for the time being, he wanted to put those feelings aside as he did his entire childhood and focus on what was happening right in front of him. 

He took a seat on the second couch, located directly across from the first, and faced his mother. 

"How've you been holding up?" Adam asked her, bringing her attention away from her papers. She lowered her glasses, setting them on the table as she rubbed the bridge of her nose between her index and middle fingers. 

"It's a lot of work when somebody dies." Alma admitted honestly. "When I go, just bury me in the backyard." 

Adam couldn't feel the desire to laugh, so he instead forced a weak smile. "It's worth the effort to make sure somebody has a nice send off." 

"That's true." Alma agreed quietly. She picked up her glasses, and put them back on, pushing them up the bridge of her nose as she read through some more papers. 

After some quiet moments had passed, Adam joined his mother in looking through the paperwork. His eyes were immediately drawn to the prices listed, all large sums of money, most of which he knew was far too much for an elderly woman to bare on her own when she had little income to support her. 

"So what is the big deal with that word?" Alma spoke again, not looking up. Adam sighed. 

"Can we please not get back into this?" 

"I'm just asking a question, that's all." 

Alma always had a special way of making Adam feel like the bad guy during their arguments- even ones she had provoked over the littlest things. 

_What she lacks in empathy, she more than makes up for in ignorance._

"It's a slur, mom." Adam stated. 

"I heard the neighbour boy use it before when he was talking about himself." 

"Yeah, well, that's different," Adam felt as if he were mentally counting down the seconds until his mother belittled his points once more. "If it's gay people saying it about themselves then it's very different." 

"How is it any different than me saying it?" 

"Not everybody is comfortable with hearing it." 

Despite his best efforts, Adam knew he wasn't getting through to his mother. With a sigh, he continued on. 

"When you come out of the closet, 'queer' is a slur that you have to constantly hear thrown at you. Having it yelled at you- sometimes so venomously that it's scary- makes it difficult for a lot of people to 'reclaim' it. If he wants to reclaim it for himself then that's up to him, but personally it's not a word that I like to hear or use, and I certainly don't think straight people have any business using it whatsoever." 

Silence filled the room just then, and Adam didn't even bother to hold his breath in anticipation of an inevitable, sly remark by his mother. He was already mentally preparing himself to leave the room in frustration. 

"Okay," Alma said, her face nearly expressionless in thought. "I think I get it." 

Adam waited a second, arms crossed over his chest, body slumped against the back of the couch as he waited. Any second, there would be a catch. 

Any second. 

Finally, she spoke again. 

"My God, there is too much paperwork." 

Adam blanked out for a few beats, his mind glazing over while he processed whether he was in reality or if he had actually fallen asleep at some point and this was some bizarre dream. 

"Wait, you really meant that? You get it?" he asked. 

"I think so," Alma replied, her words spoken slowly with caution, "This is all still very new to me, Adam." 

For years, spanning nearly his entire lifetime, Adam had always found it frustrating beyond words that his mother had turned everything into a debate- including important parts of his identity that she couldn't possibly understand because she simply pretended they didn't exist. So naturally, to hear her bend her unshakable mindset even the slightest bit had sent Adam into a silent shock. 

_It's a conversation I'm wishing we had much sooner; years far prior in my life when this touch of respect extended towards me would have made a lasting impression that potentially could have saved our relationship. My love for my parents is something unconditional- I wish it wasn't so- but it's always felt terribly unrequited._

"Alright," Adam eventually spoke, his voice cracking ever-so slightly before he coughed to clear it. "The effort alone means a lot."

* * *

By the time Shiro had gotten to work, it had nearly reached mid-day, making it an unusually late start for him. His usual routine was thrown off, but with the help of his parents, he would be able to get things back on track. 

"Where've ya been, kiddo?" Tex teased from across the lot. With a bin in his hands already full of peaches, it was clear that he had already been handling double his usual workload.

Shiro hurried over, wordlessly taking the bin from his fathers arms and walking it through the yard for him.

"Hey, I ain't that old and weak yet." Tex grumbled, letting Shiro take over nonetheless. 

"You sure about that?" A third voice chimed in, belonging to Shiro's mother, Krolia. She then turned her full attention to her son, her voice still teasing as she asked, "And what, may I ask, is the reason you're leaving all of your work to us today?"

"Farmer Sohail's son is back in town. His car broke down outside our place, and I was helping him." Shiro answered, without bothering to look up. 

"You seem upset," Krolia said, "Are you alright?"

"Honestly? Not really." Shiro answered. He crossed his arms over his chest and half-sat on the edge of the peach bin, using his feet to support the brunt of his weight. "I just found out that Roy was two-timing me with the neighbour all the way back when we first started dating." 

"Seriously?" Krolia raised her eyebrows. 

"What an asshole," Tex grumbled. 

"Then we ended up arguing about it, and I don't know, it just stung." Shiro sighed. "We should get to work." 

"No, no, nobody is getting back to work just yet." Krolia scolded with a wag of her finger. "How did the two of you end up fighting over it?" 

"I don't really want to dwell on it right now." Shiro replied, forcing himself to stand from the peach crate and gear up for the days work. 

"We can talk about it later, bud." Tex added in, placing a gentle hand on Shiro's shoulder before giving him an extra pat for good measure. 

"Alright, fine. Just don't stress yourself out too much thinking about it." Krolia said, giving in her two cents. "Just focus on catching this work up, hm?" 

Shiro forced a smile, nodding his head slowly as he replied, "I'll do my best." 

Working for hours in the yard had given Shiro a lot of time in his own mind to think about everything that had happened, spanning from the beginning of his relationship with Roy, to the very incident that occurred only hours ago. 

Roy had cheated on him from the beginning- that was a fact, and new as it was to Shiro, it was something that had happened years ago. A part of him knew that being surprised was only a waste of his energy, and yet he still couldn't help feeling hurt. 

Nothing could have saved their marriage, not even a baby, and that was something that he had to accept sooner or later. 

It had been just over six months since Roy had left. Though it was half a year, Shiro hadn't felt like any time had passed at all. Keith was growing quicker than he ever could have imagined he would, having already gone through several sets of clothes and shoes in his short life. Time flew passed Shiro at lightning speed, and he realized that in all of his attempts to care for everybody but himself, he had forgotten to do something important. 

Get over Roy. 

The sunlight glistened across his wedding band, catching his eyes as he reached upward to pick a ripened peach from the tree. He stopped himself mid-motion and stared at it. 

In a very slow motion, he brought his hand down, clasping it together with his other hand before gently twisting the ring between the fingers of his opposite hand. The ring hardly moved. Having been on his finger for so long, he knew that it would be a struggle to take off. Whenever he was ready to- just not yet. 

"Hey, hun, ready to take a break?" The deep voice belonging to Tex had snapped Shiro out of his train of thought. He turned to face him, and nodded his head. 

"Yeah, sure."

The three made way to the house, with Shiro leading a beeline straight for Keith, who was occupied with tossing plastic blocks across the room, much to Matt's dismay. He began to squeak excitedly at the sight of his father, his arms immediately shooting up into the air in a plea to be held. Shiro complied, naturally, unable to resist the chubby-cheeked baby.

"He's been a little, uh," Matt paused for a second, carefully picking out his words, " _energetic_ today, let's say." 

"Code word for pain in the butt, right?" Shiro laughed, turning to speak to Keith as he tickled the baby's stomach, causing him to twist around in a fit of giggles. "What's up with you today, buddy?" 

"He's been throwing everything around- toys, food, you name it." Matt explained in further detail. He sighed, slumping into the couch in defeat. "I thought he finally liked me! We worked so hard!"

"He's just having an off-day, I'm sure he still likes you," Shiro assured him, "I think he's just upset he didn't get to spend more time with his new pal." 

"New pal?" Krolia interjected, before taking a seat on a recliner opposite the couch. 

"Yeah, Adam, the neighbour's kid. Keith let the guy hold him without so much as a peep unless I was out of his sight." 

"Boy, what a dilemma," the teasing in Tex's tone was already imminent before he could finish his sentence, "Go figure the munchkin likes someone you can't stand." 

"It's not that I can't stand him." 

"So what is it then? You never told us what happened." Krolia asked. 

Shiro sighed. "The topic of Roy came up somehow, and we ended up figuring out that we were both dating him at the same time. I said I didn't know Roy had a side piece, and then he made a dig about how things didn't work out between us in the long run anyway." 

The room was quiet. 

"I know I'm partially at fault- I shouldn't have called him a side piece, but it just slipped out without any thought. Just knowing that Roy was a cheater, I don't know, it's the cherry on top." 

"Hey, uh, sir, I know it's not my place to say anything or whatever, but do you mind if I give my two cents?" Matt asked, his hands curled nervously in his lap. 

Shiro raised his eyebrows, but nodded his head regardless, "Go ahead." 

"So this Roy dude, obviously he was a huge pile of garbage, but he was like, the pile of garbage you were married to so of course you're still hung up on him and all that. I don't think it really helps that you didn't take any time off after he... y'know, left, so you're still real sensitive over it. You probably should've taken more time to yourself and- Sorry, I'm over stepping." 

"He absolutely has a valid point," Krolia added in, looking at Shiro. "Right after it happened, you came here and got straight to work so it's no wonder that the topic still hurts you so much." 

"Although ya might wanna avoid fighting other people who got caught in the crossfire along the way," Tex said, lightly jabbing Shiro in the ribs with his elbow. "Far as things go, you an' that poor other fella were screwed over by the same prick." 

Shiro listened to each point with thoughtful consideration, knowing that their concerns came from a genuinely well-intended place. They weren't saying anything untruthful, he had to admit, and above all else, he appreciated the concern. 

Smiling lightly, Shiro looked between the three, addressing each as he spoke. "Thank you, guys. You've all given me a lot to think about." 

With that, Shiro stood, baby Keith still contently resting in his arms. Before he could get far, his mother began to inquire. 

"Where are you going?" 

"I have a poor fella to apologize to," Shiro said with a smile. "Matt, I'll be taking the little one with me so you can take the rest of the day off."

As Shiro left, the remaining three shared quick looks with each other before ultimately shrugging shoulders and laughing it off.

* * *

After the unusually smooth interaction with his mother, Adam's mood was more positive than it had been in some time. He still knew better than to get his hopes up, but he couldn't stop himself from allowing a small inkling of hope to begin blossoming within him. Maybe their relationship could be repaired- maybe even saved- after so many years of avoidance. 

It got his mind thinking about many other things as well, but mainly his conflict with the neighbour, Shiro. 

Adam knew that he was wrong for having said what he did, and he wanted to make amends before it was too late to do so. He was in the right mindset for a proper apology, after all. He didn't waste any time as he excused himself from his mothers house and began down the driveway. 

Before he could get far, he had noticed an unfamiliar van parked in the driveway, and stopped walking as he carefully eyed it. Moments later, Shiro emerged from the other side of the van, little Keith squirming around in his arms. 

"Oh, uhm..." Adam mumbled, at a loss for words.

"Hey," Shiro greeted, taking a few steps closer. 

Despite knowing he had been on his way to extend an apology, Adam no longer knew what exactly it was that he had wanted to say. His guard had been completely thrown off, and he could only find himself asking, "Why're you here?" 

"Someone wanted to see his new buddy again," Shiro said, holding Keith out between his hands. The baby eagerly coo'd while gripping his little fingers in Adams direction. "Do you mind?" 

"Sure." Adam took Keith into his arms, careful to cradle the baby as he had earlier. "I was just heading over to your place, actually." 

"Were you?" 

"Yeah. I wanted to apologize for being a jerk." 

Shiro laughed quietly, "Well, I guess I saved you the trip. You can go ahead." 

With a long inward breath, Adam spoke slowly and with sincerity, "I'm sorry for that sly comment about your marriage not working out. That was really low of me, and I won't try to justify it." 

"I appreciate it, thanks." Shiro replied simply. 

"You're forgiving me so easily?" 

Shiro nodded his head and laughed again, "Yeah. After all, I came here to apologize, too." 

Adam's head tilted to the side slightly as he raised an eyebrow. 

"I was being ignorant when I called you a side piece," Shiro explained, "I wasn't considering your feelings and that was wrong of me. I'm really sorry." 

"It's alright," Adam replied, smiling. 

"I realized that we shouldn't be fighting over something like that. It's silly. All three of us-" He took a short pause as he reached his hand forward, the knuckle of his index finger gently stroking Keith's cheek, "-were wronged by the same man, so we should have a solidarity with each other." 

Adam gazed upon Keith's face, so snugly content in his arms despite having known him for such little time, and the look of pure love as his father simultaneously paid attention to him. He didn't know yet what a rough start his life had gotten off to, and he had no reason to. He was content simply just being there in the moment. 

A smile crept onto Adam's lips, and he gazed at Shiro with a fond look. "I couldn't agree more. Like our own little Roy haters club." 

Shiro covered his mouth in an attempt to unsuccessfully stifle a loud laugh, inspiring laughter from Keith and Adam as well. "Yeah," he said through laughs, "exactly that." 

The three continued to laugh for a moment, finding it difficult to stop since Keith, despite being unknowing of what was going on, was laughing so hard that his eyes began to water at the corners. 

After catching his breath, Shiro spoke again, "If you'd like, my offer to drive you into town and help you out with your car still stands." 

"Are you sure?" 

Shiro nodded his head, and Adam smiled. 

"Okay, I'd like that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, thank you for reading this far, and please don't be shy about sharing your thoughts with me! ^^


	5. Peachy Keen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! Here is the newest update- I hope you like! Sorry if the car talk makes no sense- I know nothing about them lol!

By one in the afternoon, the sun was beating down on the earth with a certain intensity that made it hard to not sweat just by standing still. Nary a cloud in sight, much less a stroke of wind, the day had been the first of many to begin the years first heatwave. 

"It really is May already, huh? It feels like the year just began." 

Despite having ridden alongside him for some miles already, Adam couldn't believe that he was in the same car as Takashi Shirogane, and his nearly seven month old son, Keith. 

Just the previous morning, the two had found themselves involved in an unexpected spat that had come to a calm ending only hours later. Now, one day later, the two sat side by side in the same car as if they were friends. 

Still, things felt awkward- at least for Adam. He hadn't socialized with somebody his age in Lord knew how long. He was the youngest person in his apartment complex by at least ten years, his own mother was in her seventies, and even his editor was pushing fifty. 

"It's awfully hot for a day in early spring." Adam replied, small talk no specialty of his. 

"It was like this here last year, too. Climate change, I guess." 

In the back of the van, Keith remained silent for most of the ride. He enjoyed long drives, often finding himself captivated by the scenery passing rapidly across the window. For the time being, his hands and mouth were preoccupied with the teething ring that he tightly clung to.

They had arrived to town in no time at all, traffic having been practically non-existent on the way over. If Adam had any reason to praise his hometown, it would be for that very reason alone- the lack of people was silently pleasant.

The store's parking lot was slightly busier, having been located between the outskirts of the small town, and areas where land became more populated. But it still wasn't especially full. 

Even before the two had finished walking across the parking lot, Keith had begun wailing loudly in the clutches of his father. He had dropped his teething ring, and found himself exceedingly upset even after it was returned to his grip. 

"It's okay, buddy, you've got it back now, see?" Shiro attempted to coax him into calming down- to no avail. "I'm sorry, Adam, he's just extra cranky because he's starting to teeth." 

"Don't be sorry," Adam had quickly replied, "He's a baby, it's what they do." 

Shiro smirked, his hand preoccupied with rubbing Keith's back gently while he waited for him to calm. "Thanks for understanding."

It only took a few moments for Keith to place his teething ring back into his mouth and forget completely about his troubles. He slobbered in peace, rubbing the ring over his sore gums, his chubby cheek pressed against Takashi's shoulder once more. 

The actual trip inside the store was fairly simple afterwards. Keith remained contently preoccupied, allowing the two men to find the parts that were needed, and pay for them in a timely manner. 

Only once did Keith demand, using a fit of pitchy whines and screeches, that the men stop so that he could admire a tiny dog walking across the parking lot. He stared at it in wide-eyed wonder until it fully disappeared from his sight, cooing quietly as Shiro sneakily patted away some of the drool off his little chin.

"He likes animals?" Adam asked, admittedly amused by the sight. 

"Yeah, I think so," Shiro laughed, "He loves watching them but I haven't let him meet one up close just yet." 

Then, for no reason that an adult mind could understand, Keith suddenly began to giggle, shoving his teething ring back into his mouth. 

Shiro shrugged his shoulders, a contented sigh to follow.

* * *

"That's what you chose to wear, suits? It'll get dirty real quick while doing car repair." 

Shiro found himself eyeing Adam from head-to-toe, a mixed look of confusion and amusement on his face. 

It was a suit, just as any other that Adam had worn during his return to his hometown, and most definitely out of place in the crowded work space of Shiro's garage. 

He had managed to get Adam's car working just long enough to get down the driveway and into the garage, but it wasn't without it's difficulties. It had shorted several times making it so that even he himself didn't think it would be possible. But, with enough persistence, he had succeeded, and so that brought the two to the present moment. 

"You don't have to call me that," Adam grumbled, looking down at his clothes. "I only brought formal clothes with me." 

Adam hadn't expected to do anything other then plan his fathers funeral during his trip so the only lounge wear that he had brought with him had been solely reserved for sleeping in. 

"Oh? I'll grab you something of mine to borrow then. We look like we run the same size, anyway." 

"Are you sure?" 

"I'd hate for you to ruin your nice clothes. Besides, I've get plenty to spare." 

With that, Shiro had disappeared back into the house, returning moments later with two loosely folded articles of clothing. Adam changed behind some old tires, as Shiro respectfully kept his back turned to him. 

Adam could nearly swim in Shiro's clothing, because, despite their nearly matching heights, Shiro simply had a more muscular build than he did. It was to be expected- the physical demands of a farmer and a writer were a striking contrast. 

Shiro soon turned around with a smile and thumbs up at Adam's new mechanic-appropriate wear. 

"Perfect," he chimed, "You're looking like a real country bumpkin now." 

"Is it too late to call somebody else to do this?" Adam teased. 

"Hey now! We can do it just fine. Nobody will ever have to know that you wore sweatpants." 

Adam quickly gave in, wanting to quickly get his car troubles over and dealt with.

Shiro began to explain to him precisely what the issue with the car was, and though it may as well have been rocket science to Adam, he quickly caught on to the lingo which helped him to gain a better understanding of what Shiro was talking about. 

He listened carefully, and learned quickly. Teaching him was no sweat off of Shiro's back, and for that, he was thankful. It made the ordeal smooth, easy, and almost fun. 

But, with no room to doubt, Adam had to admit that Shiro was a good teacher when it came to a topic that otherwise would have bored him to tears. He explained things in a fun sort of way, and had a captivating personality that made it easier to pay attention. 

When Adam was younger, his father had occasionally worked on cars, but he had never finished any of the projects that he had started. Adam would sometimes watch as his father reconstructed them, though he would quickly grow bored of doing so. His father would often lose his temper, give up, and start on something else. Rinse, repeat. The process was far from entertaining. 

In the end, Adam had resolved to never repair his own car. Any issue it had would be dealt with in one simple call. All he did was throw his money at whoever showed up to fix it. 

Shiro's upbringing was different, though. He made several here-and-there mentions about how he and his mother, Krolia, had worked on many cars together. He had always been intrigued by the mechanics and in the end, it had become an accidental sort of hobby of his. 

"So you're a writer, right?" Shiro had suddenly spoken up, in an attempt to make small talk during the less arduous tasks. 

"Yeah, I guess," Adam had replied nonchalantly. "Well, I mean, I am. I get paid to." 

Shiro laughed, "You said you write romance novels, right?" 

"Yes." 

"That's sweet. Do you enjoy it?" 

Now there was an unusual question- most people naturally assumed that Adam was passionate about writing and that every day he worked felt like a dream come true, when it wasn't always the case. 

In simple terms, he loved writing- just not every aspect that came along with it. 

"I do, yeah. Not everything about it is fun but I think it's worth it, anyway." 

"Oh, I could only imagine. It seems like a lot of hard work." 

"The hardest part is when you first start out. Nobody wants to give newcomers a chance and there's a ton of rejection. But I was pretty lucky that my first novel did well, so it's been a lot easier for me ever since." 

"Yeah?" Shiro smiled, looking at Adam with genuine interest as he listened to him speak. "What was your first novel? Maybe I've heard of it." 

Adam froze up, having momentarily forgotten the context of his first published work. His unknowing affair with Roy gave him a completely new outlook on the story, and how the occurrences weren't nearily as thrilling as he once thought they were. 

"It was called The Sweetness of Summer," Adam answered, the title now leaving a poor taste in his mouth. Shiro seemed to take notice of his, and raised an eyebrow. 

"Something wrong?" 

"If I'm being honest, it was inspired by my relationship with Roy- before I knew what a dirtbag he was."

The novel had been written in a positive light, based on his own memories, and told through a first person perspective so that very few readers seemed to realize that the love story was between two men.

"Oh," Shiro mumbled, staying quiet for a moment. Adam worried that he had done the wrong thing by bringing it up so bluntly, but eventually, Shiro's expression lightened again and he added, "Maybe you could write a sequel about how he turned out to be a deadbeat and a cheater. You could call it, 'Sour Spring.'"

Adam held a hand to his mouth, stifling an unexpected laugh. "Oh my God," he uttered between breaths, "Great idea, terrible name." 

"Hey, I think it's pretty genius." Shiro countered, as he laughed along. 

"It's a pity I didn't know his true colours sooner, I'm sure it would've made for a far more interesting story." 

"I'm sure it's still a great novel. I really would like to check it out sometime." 

"Are you sure?" Adam asked hesitantly. 

Shiro nodded. "I'm interested in seeing what your work is like." 

With a faint smile, Adam thought to himself how difficult it might be for Shiro to read over the story of what exactly his ex-husband had been doing behind his back, but maybe a part of him needed to know in order to get over it. He couldn't be sure what was going on in the mind of the other man, so he complied regardless. 

"I could give you a copy." 

"I'd like that." 

Just then, the side door of the garage, leading into the house, had opened up, with a flustered looking Matt on the other side. As soon as the door had creaked open, loud crying could be heard from within. 

"Uh, sir? A moment please?" Matt mumbled meekly. 

"Is everything alright?" Shiro asked. 

Matt nodded, "Yeah, I just can't get Keith to settle down. His teeth are really bugging him." 

"I'll be right there, bud." Shiro said, and then, turning to Adam, he added, "We're pretty overdue for a break anyway. Wanna come in for something cool to drink?" 

"I actually think I should be heading home soon. We've got a lot of planning to do so can we resume this some other time?" 

"Yeah, of course. Just let me know whenever works for you." 

"I will." Adam said, quickly gathering his things before turning to leave. He was stopped by a tugging at the back of his shirt. 

"Oh, and, uh, keep the clothes." Shiro said, "No sense in coming around here in a suit again." 

Adam turned to face the man briefly, the fleeting touch of a smile on his face as he did so. "Sure, thanks."

* * *

The following days were as slow as the sun was hot. 

The odd May heatwave had shown no signs of stopping any time soon. 

Adam had continued on with funeral planning alongside his mother, who remained distant though bareable. The two hadn't had so much as a disagreement- though Adam had attributed that to the brunt of the heat, which made it far too exhausting to have the energy to do much at all. 

Despite that, Shiro had remained energetic as ever, waking early for work, helping Adam with his car, and not so much as putting a dent in his stamina while doing so. 

Their discussions remained more or less focused on the car itself, occasionally deviating onto more personal levels regarding work, but always remained impersonal.

Once the initial issue with Adam's car had been fixed, a few others had been brought to light in it's place. 

"Might as well fix it while we're here," Shiro would say before showing Adam exactly how to conquer said issues. 

Adam had to admit that he was actually learning quite a bit during his meetings with Shiro, but he couldn't shake the feeling that things were still much too stiff. 

"With this particular issue, we'll just need to tighten these screws. It's a simple fix, but something that happens pretty often." Shiro had been in the middle of explaining, lifting his arm to demonstrate. 

Suddenly, his right arm had halted mid-air, and he winced, recoiling it in pain. The wrench he held had fallen to the ground, only centimeters away from hitting Adam's foot. 

"Are you alright?" Adam asked, bending at the waist so that he reached the same level as the man writhing in pain. 

"Yeah, yeah," Shiro answered through heavy breaths, "Sorry, I just over-did it a little today. Do you mind taking over for a minute?" 

"I don't mind," Adam replied, not entirely convinced that Shiro's pain was as simply put as he claimed. "Just tighten the screws, right?" 

"Yeah, exactly. You're catching on quick." 

Adam took the wrench into his hands and followed Shiro's previous instructions to the best of his abilities. Tightening the screws had taken more force of strength than he had expected, and he felt a pang of guilt at the realization that the brunt of the work had fallen on Shiro's shoulders, despite what an already physically demanding life he was living. 

"I'm sorry." Adam mumbled, tightening the final screw before he leaned against the side of the car.

"Pardon me?" 

"You've been working so hard, and I haven't done much to help you." 

"Not at all. Having your company has been really nice." 

"Even so, you seem like you're in a lot of pain." 

Shiro smiled meekly, letting go of his arm and holding it outright, his movements slow but steady. "I just need to go a little slower, that's all. Everyone keeps telling me to take it easy, but I just don't listen." Despite the seriousness of his words, he said them in a light, almost-joking manner. 

"It sounds like you're a real pain to deal with." 

"The worst, really." 

As soon as Adam was satisfied with the work he had performed on the car, he took a step back, wrench still in hand. Shiro stood up alongside him, glancing inside the hood, before smiling to himself. 

"It looks great. I think we're all done here." Shiro said, giving Adam a pat on the shoulder.

"Not quite." 

"What do you mean?" 

"Aren't we supposed to take it for a test drive now? Just to make sure it's running well?" 

Shiro grinned. "Good point." 

With that, Shiro shoved down the hood of the car, clicking it firmly into place. The two got into the vehicle, with Adam behind the wheel, who then clicked the keys into the ignition, and started the car up. The engine started without an issue, the low hum smooth and practically silent as it began. 

"Off to a good start," Shiro commented, comfortably slumping back into his seat as he clicked his seatbelt in place. 

The car began to drive forward with ease, making it down the rest of the driveway with fluid movements, and eventually onto the road without a single issue. 

"It's never run this nice before," Adam admitted. "I didn't realize how awful this thing sounded until just now." 

Letting out a laugh, Shiro stared out onto the open road with a vacant stare. 

"How's your arm doing now?" 

"It's fine. Just had a muscle spasm for a moment there. I'm getting old, after all." 

Adam raised an eyebrow, turning the corner as he cast a sideways glance at Shiro. "Don't forget that we're the same age."

"Having a baby must have aged me faster," Shiro joked, "I'm already getting white hair in some places." 

"Really?" Adam furrowed his eyebrows. "Where? I don't see any- Oh. Wait. Nevermind. Forget I asked." 

Shiro let out a loud laugh, leaning against the car window as he steadied himself. 

"Yeah," he replied. "Getting old has not been fun." 

The two continued on with their test drive for some time, remaining mostly in a long- but content- silence. 

After they had gone around the block enough times to satisfy, Adam drove back to Shiro's home, dropped him off, and said his goodbyes for the day. 

Despite his car troubles being done with, Adam had a feeling that this would be far from the last time that he would see Shiro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this far, let me know what you think of the story so far! We got some real drama next chapter, so stay tuned!


	6. Summer Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter yet, so I hope you enjoy it! I had a lot of fun writing this one! Also warning that the Q slur comes up again in this chapter briefly.

The May heatwave had taken a sudden new course with the fall of humid rain. It had begun steadily, falling at a slow pace, but had quickly taken a sudden turn for the worst as it turned into a full fledged storm. 

Funeral preparations had come to an unexpected halt at Adam's household, since he and his mother couldn't possibly leave the house to sort out minor details. Instead, they stayed indoors, and sorted out some other plans, things that they had tip-toed around until then. 

Alma had decided that she wanted Sohail's burial to be dealt with soon, and that the funeral itself could come later, so as to allow the two more time to properly prepare for it. His body wouldn't be held for much longer, so they had no choice but to do the burial as quickly as they could, but there was no time limit on the ceremony. 

On the other hand, Adam wished to get the ceremony over with as quickly as possible. He didn't want anything holding him back in town for much longer, and the overwhelming bouts of anxiety were getting the better of him, especially late at night when he was left alone to his thoughts. 

Doing auto repairs with Shiro had been nice for a temporary distraction, but it hadn't lasted very long. Though the two could hardly be considered friends, they had managed to get along despite some initial awkwardness, and in the end, Adam had found amusement in Shiro's company. 

He also found himself thinking about how he could possibly pay Shiro back for the work he had done for him, since the man had refused the proposal that he be paid in cash for all of his labour. 

Outside, roars of thunder could be heard crashing throughout the sky. Adam and Alma sat in silence in the living room, Alma on the couch peering out the window, and Adam sitting on the floor, sipping at a tea on the center table. 

The eerie silence had left Adam feeling unsettled, reminiscent of the time when he had been outted via rumour to his parents and they had ignored him for some time. Yet, no matter how long he sat in discomfort, he couldn't bring himself to speak. 

Another boom of thunder. 

Adam set his cup on the table and eyed some of the sprawled out bills from afar. 

_It costs a lot of money when people die,_ he thought to himself, and then, before he could stop his train of thought- _What a pain._

In the end, Adam didn't mind contributing what he could, and though he was a writer, he was no Stephen King when it came to the numbers in his bank account. His books did well despite his young age and overall lack of experience, but he was still far from being famously known for them. 

"Look at the way those trees are blowing in the wind," Alma began to mindlessly comment, "Over there on that queer man's lot." 

Adam quickly turned on the spot to cast his mother a deadly stare. "Mom, that word- How many times do I have to tell you?" 

"Tell me what?" Alma glanced at the man. 

"Do you ever listen to me? I don't like it when you say that word." 

"What word?"

"Mom. Can we not do this? We've been through this a million times." 

"I don't know what you're talking about." 

"The Q word-" Adam began, but he knew there was no sense in dancing around it. "Queer. It's a slur." 

"Ah," Alma mumbled quietly, "Yes, fine. I remember now." 

Adam sighed. 

Another futile effort. 

Another endless day. 

He just wanted to be back at his apartment, fingers contently placed on the keys of his typewriter where they belonged, typing away the words to his latest novel- if only he knew what it was about. 

With his hands spread around the base of his tea cup, Adam allowed the warmth of it to bleed into his palms and give his mind something else to focus on. 

What was he doing with his life? 

On a deeper level, he knew he wanted to continue to write, and yet his motivation had been completely depleted. His personal life was just plain depressing, and though he would at times joke about being old, he was still only twenty-seven years old. He wasn't even thirty yet.

As he glanced downward in deep contemplation, Adam's eye caught a glimpse of a familiar book, hidden beneath the bottom shelf of the coffee table: The Sweetness of Summer, by Adam Wazir. 

An idea was born in his mind.

* * *

When the rain had started, it had been light and pleasant, a welcome change from the smothering rays of the sun. It was nothing to inspire concern, and so, when Shiro's parents asked if he was sure that they should resume their out-of-town plans, the man had insisted that they don't let a little rain stop them. It was their anniversary, after all, and he was looking forward to some quiet time alone with his rosy-cheeked little bundle of joy. 

Less than an hour after their departure, Shiro began to regret his decision. 

Things had begun just fine. Keith sat quietly in his playpen, as Shiro attempted to get a head start on some much neglected housework. 

Keith had started to cry, with an unusual wail that didn't sound like a regular wet or hunger cry. Naturally, Shiro came to assume that this meant he wanted attention, and since it was a boring old rainy day, he thought to himself, _Why not spoil him a little?_

He took the baby into his arms and cradled him carefully, brushing his cheek softly with the back of his index finger. 

"It's okay, hon, I'm here," he coo'd in a hushed tone, his voice soft as melted butter. 

Shiro leaned inward, pecking delicate smooches on Keith's cheeks. The baby continued to sob, his voice straining with each cry. Even as Shiro blew raspberries on his cheek, a trick that usually turned his sobs to giggles immediately, Keith continued to cry. 

"Tough audience tonight, huh?" Shiro mumbled as he pulled away, brushing the messy tufts of hair from Keith's face. Despite being so little, he had already grown so much of it, the ends curling slightly inward to frame his teensy face. 

As Shiro's wrist slid passed Keith's forehead, he felt an unusual warmth emitting from his skin. Concerned, he held his wrist in place for a moment to confirm that the feeling wasn't fleeting. He adjusted his wrist a few times, pressing it against Keith's cheeks as well. All over, he was exceptionally warm. 

"Oh no," Shiro whispered, "You're really burning up, aren't you? Are you not feeling too well?" 

Now that Shiro had looked closer at Keith's face, his eyes nearly looked pleading as they swelled up with hot tears, spilling down his reddened cheeks. 

"Aw, it's okay," he mumbled, his voice overtly cutesy as he did so. He held the baby against his chest and began to rub his back. Keith pressed his cheek on Shiro's shoulder, his cries continuing on. "I'll fix you right up, don't worry." 

The first order of business was to confirm whether Keith's fever was high enough to cause concern or not. After managing to stick a thermometer in his mouth, Keith's fever had registered as 102°F. But Shiro, try as he may, could not recall what temperatures were considered bad enough to require a doctors visit. 

He looked through several of the baby-raising books he had laying around, but none provided him with a satifying answer. 

By then, he had nearly entered full panic mode. 

Outside, the weather only worsened, and the roaring booms of thunder served as no aide to the already highly intense mood in the house.

There was no baby medicine in the house- he had forgotten to get a refill after Keith's last cold, and he hadn't known any natural remedies that would suffice for the time being. 

In a last ditch effort, Shiro picked up the phone and began to dial the number of Keith's pediatrician to seek advice. He was met with pure silence on the other line of the phone- the power had gone. 

Shiro slammed the phone back down on the receiver and attempted to turn the lights on and off again with no luck. In all of his panic, he hadn't even realized that the storm had caused a power outage.

"What do I do?" He mumbled to nobody in particular, still attempting to soothe the increasingly upset infant in his arms. 

He wet a cloth with cold water and dabbed Keith's cheeks with it before ultimately setting it over his forehead. It seemed to be of little help, and, on the contrary, only upset him more. Keith bashed his little fists around in a sluggish fit, his sobs soon breaking into deep-chested coughs that caused a pang of guilt in Shiro's heart with each passing one.

With a dull ache still settling in his arm, Shiro held the baby close to his chest and closed his eyes as he rocked him quietly. 

"Come on, Keith, don't be sick, baby, please." Shiro pleaded quietly, the breaking of his voice nearly silent when rivaled with Keith's loud cries, and the roaring of the thunder outside. 

Yet, despite all of the noise, Shiro was still able to recognize the distinct sound of three concise knocks at the door. Whoever it was that decided to visit him in the middle of a dreadful storm -certainly not somebody right in the mind- Shiro could only pray that it was somebody that could help him with his baby blues. 

He jumped up, baby still in arms, and opened the front door, shocked at the sight of a rain-soaked Adam, his glasses fogged over completely. 

"Oh- Adam, hey," Shiro greeted, finding himself at a loss for words. "Come in, you're soaking wet."

Before Adam could reply, Shiro had already opened the door wide enough for him to enter, and the man had quickly obliged, given the discomfort of his dampened clothing. 

"I'm sorry for suddenly dropping in. I tried to call first but the lines were down." 

"It's okay," Shiro replied, his hand rubbing circles on Keith's back. "Is everything alright?" 

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just wanted to give you this." 

Adam reached inside his jacket, and pulled out the novel he had placed beneath his arm for safe keeping. He held it out, allowing Shiro to accept it with an amused smile. 

"You came out in the middle of a storm to give me a book?" 

"I figured now is as good a time as any, since it's impossible for you to get any work done in this weather," Adam stated, half-truthfully. In all honesty, he had just wanted to get away from home. 

But now, something else was capturing his attention. Something- no, everything- was completely off. 

"What's wrong..?" Adam asked slowly. "Is the baby okay?"

Shiro's eyebrows shot up, and his shoulders slumped as if he were, for the very first time, dropping his iron-clad walls, and allowing himself to appear vulnerable. 

"I..." He began to mumble, before swallowing back to clear his throat, "I don't know. He has a fever, and a cough now, too. I don't have any medicine to give him, and I can't call anybody to ask what I'm supposed to do." 

"Why don't you drive him over to the clinic?" Adam asked. 

Shiro was quiet for a moment. Keith coughed a few more times. 

"I've been worried about leaving him alone in the backseat." he eventually answered. "If something really bad were to start happening, and I wasn't there to soothe him. I don't know.." He sighed. "What do I do?" 

Without giving it much thought, Adam was quick to respond, "Well, I can drive." 

"What?" 

"I can drive the two of you. That way you can stay in the backseat with him if he needs you." 

"Are you sure?" 

"I owe you for all of your help so it's the least I can do." Adam replied. "Besides, I can't in good conscience leave a sick baby with no medicine." 

"Oh Adam," Shiro sighed in relief, looking as if he could burst into a fit of ecstatic tears. "You don't know how grateful I am." 

Adam gave a subtle, but gentle, smile. "We should hurry."

* * *

It had been silently agreed upon that Adam would drive Shiro's van, as opposed to his own vehicle, in order to save time with the baby seat. Setting it up in his car would have taken far too long when time was of the essence.

As discussed, Adam did the driving while Shiro remained seated beside Keith, who had since given up on crying, instead settling for pouting lethargically. Shiro attempted to keep spirits high by cooing to him in a high-pitched voice, but he went ignored by the baby for the most part. 

The rain beat down with a mighty force, keeping visibility at a low. Adam drove slowly with upmost caution, though he couldn't help but feel the pressure of having two other life's in his hands. For that reason, he remained heavily focused on the road in front of him. 

"Thank you again for doing this, Adam." Shiro said, his gaze unmoved from his baby. 

"You can thank me later, once we make it through this mess." 

"I'll be sure to." 

A normally ten minute drive had easily turned into twenty, each passing moment feeling longer than the last. 

By the time that Adam had pulled the vehicle into the clinic parking lot, able to easily access a spot close to the building due to the lack of traffic, more than thirty minutes had passed since they had left the house. 

Shiro unbuckled Keith from his carseat, pulling the hood of his petite rain slicker over his head to protect him from the harsh weather as the three made their way indoors. He signed in with the nurse at the front of the building, and was then asked to take a seat in the waiting room, where few other people were. 

It was only at that very moment that Adam realized he had joined Shiro inside instead of waiting out in the car, as he normally would have. Without much thought, he had simply followed along with Shiro and Keith, in anticipation of what would happen next. 

"Did you want me to wait in the car until you're done?" Adam asked, to be on the safe side of things. He didn't want to over-step boundaries. 

"No." Shiro had rapidly answered, his tone firm and blunt. Then, he eased up, "I mean... You can if you want to. That's fine." 

Adam's eyebrows shot up. "Do you _want_ me to stay?" 

Shiro was quiet for a moment, his gaze turned away from Adam as he mindlessly wiped droplets of rain from Keith's slicker. 

"If you don't mind," he eventually answered. 

"It's okay. I really don't mind." 

Then, Shiro smiled softly, his gaze returning back to Adam. 

"Thanks. Usually my parents take Keith to his appointments, so I'm not used to doing this on my own." 

"Really?"

"Yeah," Shiro answered, his eyes oddly vacant, "Keith is really calm with them, and, well, hospitals just creep me out." 

"Is there a reason?" 

"No. It's just that nothing good ever happens in one." 

Adam thought about his answer for a moment; how unusual, and sad, it had sounded. 

"That's not necessarily true," he eventually answered, "Babies are born in hospitals. That's a good thing." 

A faint smile spread across Shiro's face. Resting his cheek on the top of Keith's head, he slowly let himself be at ease for a moment. "You're right. Keith being born was the happiest day of my life." 

He slowly moved his face over so that he could place a delicate kiss on the top of Keith's head. The baby grunted in response, and Shiro quietly said to him, "So please, get better." 

Some time passed, the few other people in the room had entered the doctor's private office, had their appointments, and then left. Adam and Shiro sat in silence, Keith occasionally stirring around in discomfort, his small coughs filling the otherwise silent room with noise. 

Eventually, a man with orange hair and a thick mustache stuck his head out of the office's door. 

"Mr. Shirogane! You can bring Keith in now."

Shiro took a deep breath, turning to Adam. 

"If you don't want to, you don't have-" 

"Save your breath. I'm going with you." Adam cut in. 

Smiling, Shiro lowered his hand and placed it on top of Adam's as he stood, leading him by hand to the office as if he were trying not to lose him on the short jaunt over. Adam returned the hold, finding it difficult to move his eyes from the sight of their locked hands, though he didn't dare intertwine his fingers.

They entered the office, the doctor seated at his desk in anticipation of their arrival. 

"Gentlemen, how are you doing?" He asked. 

"Fine, Doctor, Um..." Shiro's voice trailed off as he checked the Doctor's nametag. He raised his eyebrows at the sight. The Doctors name, 'Dr. Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe' was barely able to fit on the tag. 

"Just Coran is fine," The doctor insisted with a laugh, "Who has the time for the full thing!" 

Shiro smiled meekly, and nodded his head. "Doctor Coran, then." he said, quickly cutting to the chase as he added, "Keith has a high fever, and he's been coughing. I'm really worried about him." 

"Well then, we'll give the little fella a check-up and see what the issue is." 

Shiro complied, and removed Keith's slicker, handing it off to Adam. He then attempted to set Keith on the table, but he quickly began to sob again, not wanting to be out of the hold of his father. 

"You can sit here with him in your lap, that'll be fine." Coran insisted, gesturing to a nearby chair. 

Shiro sat in the chair, Keith placed in his lap as Coran began performing a routine checkup, first beginning with his temperature. 

"Hm," Coran hummed in thought, "That is rather high." 

Adam watched as the colour drained from Shiro's face. 

Coran went on to check Keith's mouth, eyes, and other vitals, jotting down notes on his clipboard as he did so. He asked questions about the sound of Keith's cough, and other behaviours he was having. Shiro answered as best as he could, causing Coran to jot down more notes along the way. 

"Putting together his symptoms, and behaviour, I would say that Keith has..." Coran paused briefly, still flipping through the pages of his clipboard, "Nothing more than the common cold." 

"Common cold?" Shiro repeated. 

"Yes, that's all." 

"Wait, so... He's gonna be okay?" 

Coran laughed, "He's going to be just fine. I'll be prescribing him a light medication to ease the cough and fever."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Shiro ran a hand through Keith's hair. "Oh, phew. Thank you so much, Doctor Coran. I'm really relieved to hear that." 

"Thank God that's all." Adam commented. 

"You don't have anything to worry about," Coran stated firmly. "The two of you are doing a fine job raising him to be a healthy boy." 

"Th-The two?" Adam stammered, coughing to clear his throat. "No, it's- it's not like that." 

"Oh!" Shiro exclaimed, laughing awkwardly. "Yeah, Adam isn't my partner. He's here for emotional support." 

Coran glanced between the two several times, his expression growing steadily more confused with each turn. "Ah, my apologies! I didn't mean to assume." 

"Don't worry about it." Shiro assured him. "Bonus points for the inclusiveness, though. That was nice." 

There was a brief shared laugh in the room as Coran finished writing up the prescription sheet for Keith's medication. Moments later, he handed it off to Shiro. 

"He'll just need a dose before bedtime, and another in the morning. He should be feeling better in no time at all." 

Shiro accepted the sheet with a smile, holding Keith close to his chest with his other arm. "Thank you." 

Adam and Shiro left the office afterwards, heading straight to the downstairs pharmacy to pick up Keith's prescribed medication. As they took the steps, Shiro had suddenly stopped walking, a thoughtful look on his face. 

"I didn't bring my wallet with me," He said, having the realization suddenly dawn on him. "I left in such a panic that I forgot to grab it." 

Adam turned to face the other man, leaning his weight against the side-rail. "So what are you going to do?" 

"Hm," Shiro thought for a moment, "I don't want to make you go all the way there and back again. I can drive you home, get my wallet, and come back." 

"I'm just teasing." Adam answered, "I'll obviously pay for you." 

Shiro's mouth fell agape, and he shook his head. "I can't make you do that." 

"Well, good, because you're not making me. I'm choosing to." 

"Adam..." 

"Listen, I owe you, anyway. You fixed every issue my car has ever had, and during a gross heatwave to top it off. Just let me do this. If not for you then for Keith."

Shiro had opened his mouth, looking as if he was ready to fire a rebuttal to Adam's point, but he then slowly closed it again, and smiled hardheartedly as he replied, "Fine, but only because you brought my baby's name into this."

The two continued on down the stairs until they reached the pharmacy. There was no line or waiting time, and Keith's medicine was dealt with in a timely manner. Adam paid for it via credit card while Shiro re-dressed Keith in his rain slicker. Then, they made their way back outside into the treacherous conditions.

* * *

The return home had been brisk compared to the former drive. Though the rain was as persistent as it had been before, Adam felt more confident driving through it the second time around.

After pulling into the Shirogane's driveway, Shiro had invited Adam inside for a cup of tea. Though Adam had initiated tried to refuse the offer, Shiro had insisted he would like to show his appreciation, and that (coupled with the fact that Adam didn't want to go back home just yet) made him feel no need to refuse the offer. 

Once they had settled in, Shiro began attempting to give Keith his medication. The baby had no interest in taking it, tightly closing his mouth and balling up his tiny fists in stubborn refusal. 

He had allowed Adam to give it a couple of tries, but the same results were met. 

"He's always been a headstrong little guy, even when he's not feeling well." Shiro explained, cupping Keith's cheek in his hand.

"Maybe he would take some if he saw you pretending to like it?" Adam suggested. Less proudly, he confessed, "I obviously know nothing about babies, but I remember that trick being used in an episode of Full House." 

Shiro laughed, "Yeah? Couldn't hurt to give an old classic a try, then." 

With the cap of the bottle still sealed on top, Shiro lifted it in his hand, pretending to take a long swig from it. 

"Ooh, you're right! That _is_ super delicious. Mmm. Good stuff right here! Why don't you take a try Adam?" Shiro asked, giving him a quick wink as he passed the bottle to Adam. 

Smiling amusedly, Adam accepted the bottle, and took a fake sip. As he lowered it, he nodded his head in an exaggerated motion. 

"Oh, yeah. That's totally yummy." 

"Your turn now, Keith. Why don't you try some? It's reeeally good." Shiro said, lifting the spoon with medicine in it. Keith stared at it a moment, his eyes blinking several times over before he hesitantly opened his mouth, allowing Shiro to place the spoon inside. 

Keith scrunched up his nose, unimpressed by the taste. A small amount dribbled down his chin, though he had swallowed the majority of it before the taste had hit him. Shiro dabbed at his chin with a cloth, smiling at the sweet victory. 

"Good job, buddy. I'm so proud of you." He coo'd, the baby's face still brimming with dissatisfaction. 

"Thank you so much for all of your help today, Adam," Shiro said, then turning his attention to the other man. "I really don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up." 

Adam shrugged, "It's no big deal, but you're welcome." 

"It is a big deal. Most people would've just left and said, 'Okay, good luck with that.' So honestly, I really do appreciate it. I'm the one that owes you now." 

"You don't owe me anything. Roy Haters Club members have to look out for each other, after all." 

They laughed together. Shiro's resting expression had settled into a comfortable, yet subtle, smile. 

"I'm glad that we've become friends." Shiro said. 

Adam smiled back. 

_Everything feels warm now, and somehow assured. When is the last time I've smiled like this, contented and carefree, without the pressure to force it? He gazes on with a soft look, and somehow we both know -without the need to say it aloud- that everything is going to be alright._

"Me too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, please don't hesitate to share your thoughts on this chapter with me! Thank you for reading this far!


	7. Prelude To The Peach Festival

Sohail's burial took place in the early morning. It was a brief service without a ceremony to precede it, leaving it with a strangely discomforted feeling to follow. 

Adam knew, despite his father now being many feet beneath the ground in eternal slumber, that he had not received any sense of closure. 

There was a vacancy in his stare as he watched the casket lowered beneath the ground. A part of him had expected that he might feel something- anything- yet, that wasn't the case. He didn't feel any desire to cry, not even an inkling lingering beneath the surface. 

Perhaps it hadn't fully weighed on him yet that his father was dead. Perhaps on a deeper level, he simply didn't care, though he suspected that that wasn't the case. Contrary to how he had been raised, Adam had a big heart. He felt strong emotions often, sometimes more than he cared to, but his fathers death was seemingly the first to break his streak. He felt numb. 

He and his mother had returned home by noon, and not-surprisingly (as they had not spoken a word to the other during the duration of their trip) had immediately gone their separate ways, both to their bedrooms. 

That was how things were in the Wazir household. 

Don't talk about anything. 

Silence that spoke levels. 

It was no comfort to Adam as a child, and it was no comfort to him as an adult. It never would be. His parents were never the type to show affection or concern toward him, and in return, he had no idea how to either. 

He stayed in his room for some time, his mind clouded with the weight of existence. He reflected on his childhood spanning onto the years of young adulthood, the events that had eventually led him to life beyond the countryside town. 

His existence felt so small when weighed upon the rest of the world, yet no matter where he went, he almost felt like he was the last man alive. Even while he had walked through the busy streets of the city, he was isolated on every level beyond physical. 

The day of his father's burial only served to solidify that feeling. 

Once Adam's career had taken off, the taste of success had been bittersweet. He had nobody to celebrate with, and worse yet, nobody to confide in when a plague of loneliness befell him afterwards. 

_A part of me is led to believe that I need nobody in my life. I get along just fine on my own. Yet, the simpler me, who wishes to love and be loved in return, only grows more impatient with the passage of time._

With a sigh, Adam turned in his bed, glancing at the far bookshelf in his bedroom. It had gone unchanged since he had moved, despite having taken most of his books with him. Layers of dust had accumulated on the surface, turning the black wood into a light brown. 

And then, with no clear plan set in his mind, Adam stood from the bed, and he began to clean. No surface would be left untouched once he had finished. 

By the time that the hour had reached it's end, Adam had washed away the settled dust on every surface. The room had, after all, always been a very quaintly-sized space. 

The smell of vinegar diluted by warm water filled the room, a scent that Adam had grown to associate with a more pleasant nostalgia. It reminded him of the serene cleanliness of Sunday mornings- the day that had always been dedicated to cleaning the house while he grew up, and a tradition that he had kept even after living by himself.

He admired his work for a moment or two, until he felt content with what he was looking at. The surfaces were clean, causing the sun to reflect brightly off of them, not at all alluding to the fact that the room hadn't been lived in for years. 

Then, he left the room, and, in a rare hopeful moment, he had decided to go check on his mother to see how she had been holding up since the burial. 

He knocked on the door of her bedroom, and was answered after only a single knock. 

"Yes?" Alma had responded, her voice quiet, almost hesitant. 

"Can I come in?" Adam asked. 

"Alright." 

Adam opened the door slowly as he peered in, his eyes catching the slightest glimpse of chaos. He pushed the door open all at once. Nothing could have prepared him for the sight before him. 

Strown across the floor were shattered pieces of old records, torn papers, and other various items. It was complete disarray like he had never seen before from his mother who had always prided herself on her tidy nature. 

"What happened in here?" Adam asked, his eyes wide as he scanned the room. 

"I don't know." Alma replied. 

"How do you not know? You literally-" Adam cut himself off and took a deep breath, reminding himself to remain calm and orderly. "Why'd you do this? This place is a mess, and you could've hurt yourself." 

"Get out of here," Alma muttered quietly, and when Adam didn't respond, she repeated in a much louder voice, " **Get out of here.** "

Adam swallowed back. It wasn't often that his mother had raised her voice in such a way. He couldn't remember if she ever had. 

"Alright, fine." Adam replied, his voice quiet. He didn't dare say any more in fear of the reaction he may evoke if he did so. Though, even if he had wanted to, he knew he couldn't possibly do anything to make things better. Some things were better left alone. 

He left the room, slowly clicking the knob into place as he shut the door beside him. He stood in place for a moment, his back resting against the frame of the door as he collected his thoughts. Or, rather, his lack thereof. His mind had suddenly gone completely blank, and his heart raced unusually fast. He swallowed back but his throat felt as if it was closing in on itself. 

Everything felt doomed from the beginning, and yet, foolishly, Adam had let his guard down and allowed himself to feel a shred of hope when he had first arrived. 

_Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid._

The phone began to ring. 

Adam was instantly pulled out of his gloomy thoughts. He inwardly thanked his lucky stars for an immediate distraction. 

He made his way to the wall-side phone residing at the edge of the kitchen and pulled the receiver off of the base, bringing it to his right ear. 

"Wazir residence. May I ask who's calling?" 

"Hey, Adam?" The voice on the other line responded, before recognizing his mistake, "Sorry, it's Shiro from next door." 

"Oh, Shiro?" Adam's shoulders eased and he allowed himself to lean against the wall of the kitchen. "Is everything alright?" 

It had been a few days since the last time that the two had seen or spoken to each other, when Keith had unexpectedly gotten sick. 

"Yeah, everything's great. Keith is doing pretty well now, he just has a bit of a leftover cough, but it's starting to fade." 

Adam smiled faintly, "That's relieving to hear." 

"His recovery is all thanks to you, of course." 

"I can't take any of the credit for that." 

"Sure you can, and I insist you do, because I really want to thank you for it." 

"Thank me?" 

"Mhmm." 

"How so?" 

"Are you free right now?" 

"Maybe." 

Shiro laughed, "Well, if you are, then I thought maybe I'd invite you over."

"Over? To your place?" 

"Yeah. We're actually having our annual peach festival right now, and I wanted to invite you, but I noticed that nobody was at your place earlier, so I thought I'd wait to give you a call." 

Adam was silent for a moment, and so, Shiro continued to speak. 

"You don't- You don't have to say yes if you don't want to." 

"No, it's not that, I just-" 

Adam paused for a moment, eyeing the door of his mothers room through the corner of his eye. He silently contemplated whether she was in any shape to be left on her own. Or, rather, if that was precisely what she needed at the moment. 

"It wouldn't be an inconvenience for me to show up?" Adam eventually continued. 

"No, of course not! I'd really like it if you did!" 

"I think I could stop by for a little while." 

"Really? You mean it?" 

"Yeah, I could come over now if that's not too sudden." 

"No, that's perfect," Shiro exclaimed, "Keith is gonna be really happy to see you again." 

"I'll be over soon, then." 

"I'll be waiting!"

* * *

The first storm of spring hadn't lasted any longer than a day and a half. By the time it had ended, Keith's cough had settled into something much more subtle, and his fever had long since passed. 

Shiro was still as grateful as ever to Adam, and despite the other mans arguments to the contrary, he still felt indebted to him for all he had done. As his way of showing thanks, he invited Adam over to his farm to join him at the annual peach festival. 

Each year, during the last week of May, the Shirogane peach tree farm was the height of the town during the peach festival. 

For a low priced entrance fee, residents were given admittance into the land and allowed to pick as many peaches as they could handle for no additional cost. Most residents were fair about the amount that they picked, and took no more than necessary, allowing the Shirogane family to still make a decent profit without any major losses to their inventory. 

Though, there was one special reason that Shiro always looked forward to the annual peach festival (that was mostly irrelevant to the event itself), and that was the arrival of Curtis. 

Curtis was Shiro's closest friend, and Keith's godfather. The two had known each other since childhood, having remained -mostly- inseparable ever since. Once adulthood had come around, Shiro and Curtis went to different colleges, followed different career paths, and ultimately ended up living in different towns. 

Curtis worked in the city as an engineer. He did well at his job, and though he worked long, unforgiving hours, he liked the work that he did. He got enough time off of work to keep him sane, and often spent his vacations in his hometown. One of those times was consistently during the peach festival. Though it wasn't a grand event, it made him feel nostalgic in the best way possible, making the trip home all the more worthy. 

Naturally, Shiro had always looked forward to seeing him, though the feeling had only increased with time. Despite being the godfather to Keith, Curtis had only met him twice since he was born, due to conflicting schedule issues, and Shiro was eager for the two to meet again since Keith was already growing so quickly. 

Curtis arrived before noon had struck, pulling into the Shirogane driveway only to be immediately greeted with a tight hug from his close friend. He didn't hesitate to return the gesture, smiling broadly as he did so. 

"It's been so long, I missed you like crazy." Curtis said. 

"I missed you a lot, too." Shiro replied. 

"I have something to confess, and I know you're gonna be mad at me for this..." Curtis' voice trailed off as he slowly pulled away from the hug. 

"You didn't..." 

Before Shiro could finish his sentence, the loud, booming bark of a dog could be heard from his vehicle. 

"Curtis!" 

"I'm sorry! I had to bring her! She wants to meet Keith so badly! Pleeease?" Curtis clasped his hands together in a mock-plea. 

"I don't know," Shiro hummed in thought, "Kosmo is so big, and Keith is just a little thing. What if she terrifies him?" 

"I promise she's super gentle with strangers- especially little ones!" 

"You swear?" 

"On my life!" 

Shiro smiled, knowing all too well that he couldn't say no for much longer. "Fine, but you have to come in and see him first." 

"It's a deal, sir." Curtis nodded enthusiastically. 

"You really need to stop calling me that," Shiro retorted with a snort, "I'm only a year older than you are." 

"Mm, I know that, but it's a force of habit. Don't you remember those games that we used to play when we were little?" 

"The ones where we were space rangers?" 

"Uh-huh, and you were always the captain." 

"If I recall correctly," Shiro reminisced, "We also used to get married in that game all the time. So I don't think we need to follow it so clearly into our adulthood." 

Curtis scrunched up his nose as he let out a laugh, "I'm sure there's an alternate universe out there where we really are married, you know." 

"You think so?" 

"Uh-huh. It'd definitely be out of last minute desperation, though." 

The two laughed, and then Shiro took Curtis by the arm. "Just come in here and meet my kid already." 

"Roger that, captain!" 

Opening the door to the house, Shiro and Curtis removed their shoes upon entering, the sound of Keith's cooing already heard from afar. He was in a particularly talkative mood that day, and excited upon seeing the familiar face of his father returning. 

"Hi, Keith, buddy, I brought an old pal for you," Shiro said as he reached into the playpen and pulled the baby into his arms. "This is your godfather Curtis, I know you haven't seen him in a little while." 

"Oh wow," Curtis spoke softly, "Look at him... He's so big now." 

"He's already twenty-one pounds, if you can believe it. He's growing like crazy." 

"He looks so much like you, sir." Curtis mumbled in wonder. He kept a short distance from the baby, scared that he may upset him if he were to get too close. 

"Do you wanna hold him?" Shiro asked, to which Curtis quickly shook his head. 

"I don't wanna set him off." 

"You won't, okay? I'll be right here." 

"Uh... Okay, but you have to promise not to go too far away." 

"I won't, I promise," Shiro took a step forward, and carefully placed Keith into Curtis' arms, while making sure not to move his own hands from the baby. 

Keith remained content, cooing as his gaze shifted between the two men, causing Curtis to break into a wide grin. 

"Oh wow," Curtis mumbled again, "Oh wow... He's not crying. He's not crying! I think **I** might start crying."

"See? I told you." Shiro smiled, "He's really growing up. He doesn't cry that easily anymore." 

Suddenly, there were three stiff knocks at the door. 

"Oh, shoot, I'll get that. Hold onto Keith please," Shiro said, quickly shoving the baby fully into Curtis' arms before he hurried to the door. Almost immediately, Keith began to wail and toss his arms around. 

"Sir, you promised!" Curtis whined, though his complaints fell on deaf ears. 

By then, Shiro had arrived to the door, and opened it to find Adam on the other side. He invited him inside, which the man promptly accepted, removing his shoes at the entrance. 

"Adam, I want you to meet my best friend, Curtis," Shiro said, gesturing a hand in the direction of the other, taller man. "And Curtis, this is the guy I was telling you about, Adam." 

Adam glanced at the man whose face was currently striken with panic as he awkwardly bounced the upset baby in his arms. 

"N-Nice to finally meet you," Curtis stammered. Then, he glanced at Shiro, "Sir, the baby, please..!" 

"Sorry!" Shiro laughed, scooping Keith back into his arms. He gently rubbed circles with his hand on Keith's back in hopes of easing his upset. Keith's cries quieted but didn't stop completely. 

"It's nice to meet you, too." Adam replied. 

"Oh, um, Shiro told me that you're a writer, and, coincidentally, I've read a couple of your books before," Curtis began to explain, "I really like your work!" 

"You have?" Adam raised his eyebrows, "Thanks, then. I'm glad you liked them." 

"I just started the novel you gave me," Shiro said, "It's really compelling. You're a great writer." 

"I've been telling him to read your stuff for years but he didn't listen!" Curtis cut in. 

"Oh, really?" Adam asked, to which Curtis nodded. 

"Life just got pretty busy, and then Keith came along, and- well, you get the point. I've got the time now, though, and it was really hard to put the book down once I had gotten started." 

"It's not difficult for you to get through?" Adam asked. He quickly clarified, "I wasn't exactly subtle about the inspiration behind it." 

"No, it's fine." Shiro laughed, "It reminds me of how much fun it was to be in love with _'Rodger'_ which, oddly enough, makes me feel better about still being hung up on him." 

Smiling, Adam replied, "I'm glad you found a way to look at it positively." 

"Uhm- sorry, I don't mean to interrupt but... Maybe now is a good time to bring in Kosmo?" Curtis asked, "I have the A/C on in my car but I'm sure she's getting ansty out there all alone." 

Shiro glanced down briefly at Keith, though his chubby cheeks were still wet with tears, he had mostly calmed down and was once again quieted in the arms of his father. 

"Alright, fine. Go get her." Shiro said. 

"Yes!" Curtis pumped his fist into the air, quickly exiting the house, before he briefly returned to slip his shoes back onto his feet, and then, once again, he left. 

"He seems nice." Adam commented. 

"He really is. He's a sweetheart." 

"How long is he in town for?" 

"Not long, I imagine. He's usually only here for under a week." 

"Oh, that's too bad." 

Shiro nodded, "Actually, I wanted to ask you something. About your book." 

"Hm? What is it?" 

"How did you manage to get a story like that published?" 

Adam raised his eyebrows, his head tilting slightly to the side, before Shiro realized his poor choice of wording, and quickly reiterated. 

"I mean- it's a gay novel, right? I can't imagine it was easy to get approval for that." 

"Actually, most people don't even seem to realize," Adam explained, "It's universally assumed that the main character is female, since it's written in first person and he has a unisex name." 

"Oh, that is sneaky." Shiro laughed, "I've gotta hand it to you, you're really clever. I really mean it when I say your work has really impressed me." 

"I'm glad you like it." Adam replied. 

"I have one more question, though." 

"Go ahead." 

"What's wrong? You seem sort of... off right now. Is everything okay?" 

"Tough morning," Adam had bluntly answered, surprised by his own immediate jump to honesty. "We buried my dad today, actually." 

"Adam, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize that was today. I wouldn't have bothered you to come over if I knew." 

"No, it's okay," Adam quickly assured him, "I could really use the distraction." 

Shiro brought his arm forward, gently cupping Adam's shoulder in the palm of his hand. "In that case, I'm more than happy to provide one." 

Slowly, Adam raised his hand, and brought it to Shiro's, gently placing it on top. He gave his hand a light squeeze, smiling as he did so. The gesture was light, but much appreciated. Human contact had nearly become foreign to Adam at that point.

"Thank you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so this chapter was originally supposed to be much longer but I'm splitting it up here for now! The other half should be posted really soon cause luckily most of it is already written! Stay tuned for the peach festival!! As usual, keep me posted on your thoughts, and thank you for reading this far!


	8. Peach Festival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for this long wait especially when I said the next update would be quick! Life got so crazy between updates but I'm glad to be back! Thanks for being patient- Shiro would be proud of y'all!! The writing is a little rough because I had a hard time getting back into the swing of things after nearly two months... Forgive me and please enjoy regardless!

Just then, Curtis re-entered the house, a large alaskan malamute dog at his side. Kosmo looked around the room in curiousity, not straying far from her owner's feet. 

"Are you ready to meet Keith?" Curtis asked, giving Kosmo's head a pat. 

Shiro feigned a gasp to gather Keith's attention, "Look, sweetie, there's a big doggy here! Do you wanna meet her?" 

His eyes following the direction in which his father was pointing, Keith's mouth fell open at the sight of Kosmo. He began to wiggle around in Shiro's arms, eager to get away from his grasp and closer to the animal. 

Shiro walked closer to the dog, very slowly kneeling onto the ground in front of her. He held back one of Keith's arm, and held the other outwards. "You gotta let the nice doggy sniff you first, okay? And then you can pet her." 

Keith was completely enamoured by the sight in front of him, his eyes practically bulging out of his skull as he stared intently. He let out a series of excited chirps and giggles as Kosmo began to sniff his tiny hand, causing the dog to tilt her head curiously to each side. 

Beginning to reach his hands upward, Keith was eager to try and pet Kosmo when the dog let out a low bark of excitement. Keith's eyebrows shot up, and he quickly began to cry. 

"Aw, Kosmo, no, you scared him! Come on, we practiced this!" Curtis scolded. 

Keith turned and began to stretch his arms in Adam's direction, desperately begging to be held in comfort. Adam stared for a few seconds, blinking in confusion, until he eventually lifted the baby into his arms. Keith immediately hid his face in Adams chest, continuing to cry in desire of consolation. 

With a stiffly awkward stance, Adam lightly patted Keith's back. 

"He really does like you, doesn't he?" Shiro asked, smiling fondly at the sight. 

"Huh?" Curtis muttered, his gaze shifting between the two. "He's that close to somebody he just met? Really?" 

"I wouldn't say that we just met," Adam explained, "We've gotten pretty well acquainted these past few days." 

"Even so," Curtis puckered his bottom lip in a faint pout, "I'm pretty jealous." 

"They've been through a lot together lately," Shiro added in, "And I think Keith senses that Adam is somebody that he can trust now because of all the help he's given us."

Adam fought back the urge to smile, admittedly charmed by both the baby and his father. Curtis eventually eased and smiled at the sight. 

"I guess I can accept that," Curtis admitted in good-sported defeat. He extended his hand, patting Kosmo's head softly. "Now, can we try this again, Kosmo? No barking this time!" 

His hand now less stiff as he patted Keith's back, Adam pulled the baby away slowly, gently tugging the baby's tightly balled up fists away from his shirt. "It's okay," he uttered softly, his voice low and smooth, "She won't hurt you. It's okay. See?" 

Adam reached his hand forward, allowing the dog to sniff it. Kosmo extended her nose, gave him a whiff, and then licked his hand. 

Keith watched the sight with curiousity, still sniffling but no longer sobbing. He slowly gave in when he witnessed as Adam gave the dog a gentle pat on the head, and extended his hand once more. 

Kosmo sniffed the baby's tiny hand, approving it with a gentle lick. The room was filled with the enthusiastic coo's of the three grown men, resulting in Keith letting out his own giggles of excitement. 

Adam slowly brought Keith closer to the dog to allow him to pet it. Though Keith's concept of petting was in the form of smacks on the top of the dogs head with the palm of his hand, it didn't seem to irritate Kosmo as she leaned forward and sniffed his rounded, rosy cheeks, making him giggle loudly with full force. 

"Good job you two!" Curtis exclaimed proudly, giving Kosmo a supportive pat.

Reaching forward to cup the baby's cheek, Shiro smiled fondly at the sight of Keith so happy. "See? She's not scary at all."

During his fits of giggles, Keith's emerged bottom teeth became visible in his otherwise gummy smile. Adam found himself unable to hold back his own smile. The sight of a happy, giggling baby was something that not even he could pretend was anything less than precious.

Adam handed Keith back to Shiro, who gently scooped him into his arms before standing again. Curtis and Adam followed his lead.

"Do you guys want to walk around a bit and check things out?" Shiro asked, gaze shifting between the two.

Curtis and Adam shared a brief but awkward glance with each other before they returned attention to Shiro. Both met his gaze with a nod, and he enthusiastically made his way to the door.

"This year is a little simple since my parents are still on their trip, but I think you guys will like it," Shiro explained to the two, as he hoisted Keith up against his hip, "And it'll be his very first peach festival."

Curtis smiled and shrugged, "As long as it's okay that Kosmo tags along."

"Of course!" Shiro replied, "She's always more than welcome."

The three left the house but not before Shiro plopped a sun hat onto Keith's head, which the baby then began to fiddle with immediately, constantly pulling it off each time Shiro placed it back on. 

Walking outside, they could feel a humidity in the air that seemed to get stronger with each passing step. It wasn't quite stifling, but it was enough to draw an instant wick of sweat. Kosmo walked ahead of the men, but kept a close distance- the result of her curious but cautious nature.

"It's a really beautiful day for this, sir." Curtis commented.

"Isn't it? I was worried it was going to keep raining for a long time." He placed his hand on Keith's head to prevent the baby from removing his hat. Keith grunted in frustration, letting out a whine of complaint that Shiro opted to ignore. "Come on, I'll show you guys around." 

Shiro led the two men down the main driveway, the orchard was full of families both big and small, some loud some quiet. In the distance, music played, blasting from the end of the driveway where Matt stood with his booth, collecting entrance fees and keeping an eye on everything. He waved as the men approached, eagerly showcasing a fist full of money in his hand while flashing a thumbs up with the other. 

"It looks like a pretty good turn out this year, sir." Curtis commented, Kosmo eagerly trotting by his side, occasionally stopping to sniff the peach trees. 

"It's gotten really busy since this morning." Shiro replied, looking around at all of the excitement. He felt proud to know that the turn out hadn't been a complete disaster despite the absence of his parents. His eyes did a quick scan of the property, but quickly halted when his gaze swept over Adam. 

Adam's posture seemed tight, bordering on tense, and he hadn't been speaking much since his arrival. Despite it not being Shiro's fault in any way, he felt guilty that he wasn't of much help in brightening his mood. Curtis, with a keen sense of observation, had taken notice as well, his glance changing between the two.

"I think I'll walk Kosmo around the lot for a little while and let her burn some energy. You guys alright on your own?" Curtis asked.

Adam's eyebrows rose just then and he seemed more alert as he replied, "Are you sure? If I'm making things awkward then I can leave."

"No!" Shiro and Curtis cried in unison, their voices both louder than intended. Curtis coughed to clear his throat, visibly embarrassed by the attention that they were now receiving from by-standers. "That's not it. I just want to let Kosmo explore a little."

"That's fine, Curtis," Shiro answered, "It'll give me time to show Adam around a little more. You already know this property like the back of your hand."

"Yeah, that's for sure."

"Is that okay with you?" Shiro turned to Adam as he asked. Adam nodded his head in response. "Alright, we'll meet up in about an hour then?"

"An hour it is, sir." Curtis grinned, spinning on his heels with Kosmo eagerly at his side. It wasn't long before the dog was all but running away, eager to burn some energy, with Curtis not far behind her.

An air of silence was left behind, filled only by Keith's quiet babbling as he attempted to wrestle his sunhat out from under Shiro's grip. He became frustrated, knocking his tiny fists around in a fit. Shiro did a good job of ignoring it, though the hint of a smirk on his lips suggested that he was amused by the infant's persistence.

"Come on, I'll show you a couple of my favourite places," Shiro spoke up, nudging his head to the side before he began to walk back up the pathway, Adam on his trail, as he led him to a secluded area toward the back of the house.

There weren't many people around, or at least none that were within the range of view. Shiro continued walking until he had eventually led Adam to two tree stumps hidden in a cluster of fully grown peach trees. He took a seat on one of the stumps, placing Keith on his knee as he did so. Only then did he allow Keith to win in his fight to remove his sunhat, the shade of the surrounding trees providing enough protection for the time being. Keith squeaked in delight, tossing the hat to the ground in smug victory.

"Take a seat, it's alright," Shiro said, gesturing toward the other vacant tree stump. Adam complied without response, brushing a few fallen leafs before taking his seat. The stump was slightly higher than Shiro's, giving him an elevated look at the father and son duo, Shiro bouncing Keith on his knee absentmindedly.

Then, Shiro began to fill the silence with words.

"Curtis and I used to play here a lot when we were kids. Somehow it feels very disconnected from the rest of the world. More private." Adam raised an eyebrow, and Shiro continued, "We just played silly little games like 'space rangers' and stuff like that. It was fun, though. We used to get weirdly invested in the plot lines and characters."

A faint smile on his lips, Adam replied, "I know. You guys were loud. I could hear you by the fences edge."

"You could?"

"Mhm," Adam hummed.

Shiro began to laugh to himself, "I guess it wasn't nearly as private as it felt, then."

"Sorry to burst that bubble." Adam replied, before adding, "If it's any consolation, I found your games very amusing."

"That kind of eases the embarrassment. Just a little, though."

Adam snickered quietly, "Don't be embarrassed. I was always pretty jealous of the two of you. You got to be as loud as you wanted to be, and play around as much as a child should."

Shiro's eyebrows sunk, just as well as his heart did, the more he listened to Adam speak. "Oh? Can you elaborate more on that?"

"Well, you had such young parents. They didn't mind 'noise.' My parents were a lot older, and they hated it. I was only allowed to play quietly to myself, so I lived vicariously through hearing the games the two of you played on the other side of the fence."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't imagine," Shiro quietly sympathized, "I wish I had known, I would've invited you over."

"No, it's fine. It gave me a lot of time to think creatively to myself, so I guess it's part of the reason I went on to do something like writing," Adam explained, "And besides, working out the plot holes in your games was always a fun challenge."

Shiro opened his mouth, feigning offense though unable to restrain a laugh from escaping, "Plot holes? Like what?"

"Hmm, let me think," Adam tapped his chin in thought, "The whole 'Elven prince traitor' plot line was hastily done, and it was really unclear why the princess always had to sacrifice herself in the end."

"Oh my God, I can't believe you remember all of that." Shiro gushed, eyebrows risen. "We really should have invited you over. Imagine how great the plot could have been then."

Adam laughed. He locked his hands together in his lap, staring down at them in silent contemplation as he allowed his shoulders to slump comfortably. "You were both very creative, though. My imagination felt stifled at that age."

"That wasn't your fault, Adam," Shiro's tone had become more serious, despite keeping it's usual softness, "You were stifled because of your situation, but you managed to make the most of it as an adult. The more I learn about you, the more impressed I am with how far you've come."

"Thank you," Adam smiled, "I usually don't think about it much at all, but coming back here has been weird. All of these little details are coming back to me, clear as day. I didn't realize how miserable it was until I finally left."

"I get it. I mean, I can't exactly relate but, I understand what you're getting at. It's a really hard time for you, but it'll pass."

"Yeah, exactly," Adam said, "We got the burial over with, now it's just dealing with costs, and the funeral in a couple of days. Then, it's over. Life can resume."

"Life can resume even in the meantime, can't it? You can enjoy the rest of today, at least."

Adam nodded slowly before he replied, "When you called me earlier, my mother had just trashed everything in her room. She yelled at me to stay away from her. It was scary in a way. I've never seen her like that before. I didn't know what to do. I still don't."

Shiro swallowed back, unsure of what to say next. No words seemed appropriate in the moment, knowing fully well that he couldn't have even the slightest understanding of what Adam was currently going through. He wished he could help in any way, but the situation felt out of his hands, with no possible way to ease any of Adam's troubles.

Shiro stood, Keith hoisted up against his hip, and reached up toward a branch of the nearest peach tree. He grabbed the first peach he saw, plump and ripe, and twisted it from it's branch. He sat again, and held it out towards Adam. "Peach?" he offered.

Just then, for reasons he couldn't quite explain, Adam burst into a fit of laughter. Shiro's arm remained extended, peach still in his hand, as he blinked, completely dumbfounded.

"P-Peach," Adam repeated between laughs, leaned over and holding his stomach, "I pour my heart out and you _offer me a peach._ "

Slowly, a smile broke onto Shiro's face as he resisted the urge to laugh. "I'm sorry!"

Adam wiped the corners of his eyes with his fingers, his laughter slowly dwindling off into soft chuckles. "It's okay," he replied, taking the peach into his hand, "Thank you."

"If you ever feel unsafe or just uncomfortable in that house, Adam..." Shiro's voice faded into a quieter tone, his hand gently placed on the other mans knee, "Just know that my door is always open to you. You don't even have to call first."

Twirling the peach quietly in the palms of his hand, Adam held his breath as Shiro made even the faintest bit of physical contact with him. He resumed his breathing, albeit slowly, returning his gaze to Shiro's eyes- so full of a genuine softness- as he smiled.

_I breathe in, and out again. My heart skips a beat, and then beats twice more. Touch-starved as I am, I manage to restrain returning the contact. I meet his eyes, and his meet mine. There is warmth- and I feel at peace for a fleeting moment._

"I really appreciate it," Adam replied, bringing the peach slowly to his lips. He found himself unable to speak much else, and so, he bit into the peach instead, the juice overflowing at the sides of his mouth as he did so. It was firm without being too firm, and the flavour was pleasantly sweet. "This is good, I'll give you that."

"Isn't it?" Shiro grinned. He twisted a second peach off the tree, and allowed Keith to hold it in his tiny hands. The baby observed Adam, and then brought the peach to his mouth, suctioning his lips onto the side of it without biting. He had drooled all over the side of it by the time Shiro sat with him again. He took the peach back, much to Keith's dismay, and used a switchblade he had taken out of his pocket to cut off a small piece which he then held out for Keith. "Go ahead, try it."

"He's old enough to try solid food?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, peaches are the perfect first food for a baby. They're easy to digest, and taste good. It was my first food, too."

"So this will be his first time trying it?"

Shiro smiled fondly, "Yeah, I thought it might be the perfect day to let him try."

Keith placed his hands curiously onto the end of the peach slice, Shiro still holding the other end securely in his fingers. He brought it to his mouth without much thought, and took a minuscule bite. After a few seconds of tasting it, his mouth widened into a circle as he let out a series of excited 'ooh-ooh' noises.

"He likes it," Shiro grinned, offering more to the eager baby. "Look at how much he likes it, Adam!"

"I've never seen anybody quite so excited over a peach before," Adam said, and then slyly, he added, "The baby seems pretty into it, too."

A snort escaped Shiro's nose as he laughed, causing Adam to break out into laughter as well. Keith, with no clear concept of what was going on around him, joined in the laughter as well, clapping his hands together in the excitement.

After a moment, they had settled down. Keith had tried enough peach to satisfy his curiousity, and Shiro had wiped away the remnants from his cheeks and chin.

"Do you want to tour around a little more?" Shiro asked, adjusting Keith's sun hat back onto his head.

"Yeah," Adam replied, feeling the most at peace he had all day. "I'd like that."


	9. I Look Up As I Walk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for this chapter:  
> -mentions of cigarettes and smoking

The rest of the peach festival had gone by in a pleasant, albeit brisk, fashion. Shiro had continued to show Adam around the property, allowing him to see things on the other side of the fence for the first time, something he could have only imagined when he was a child. After an hour, they had met with Curtis again as planned, and the rest of the afternoon was spent alternating between eating peaches, and helping Matt man the booth. 

It was sweet, it was brief. Adam had wished the afternoon could last forever and then a little longer. He didn't want to return home to the coldness, the emptiness, but there was no sense in delaying the inevitable any longer. 

He thanked Shiro for his hospitality, bid adieu to Curtis, gave a final pat to Kosmo, and a hug to Keith. The baby had curled his small arms around Adam's neck, babbling incoherent nonsense into his ear, and had then attempted to pull off his glasses as he pulled away from the hug. Every second of it was strangely endearing, and Adam felt a heavy sigh in his heart as he had to say his goodbyes for the evening.

By the time he had returned home, Adam still had the tiniest fingerprint smudges left on the corners of his glasses. He was in no rush to tidy them. He had a basket of peaches in hand that Shiro had given him complimentary, and insisted he took, still feeling indebted after the night Keith had gotten sick. 

The house was silent, with the lights in each room left on. As Adam walked through, he turned off every unused light, tidying small messes as he encountered them. By the time he had reached the livingroom, he had come across his mother, fast asleep on the couch. Something about Alma's resting face made Adam feel like he wanted to cry. He didn't know why. 

Adam set the peach basket on the coffee table, grabbed hold of a blanket that was folded over the back of the couch, and draped it over his mother, tucking it gently beneath her chin. He watched her for a moment. The flair of her nostrils as she breathed in and out again. She was alive. Breathing. For some reason, the thought felt like a revelation to Adam. He sighed quietly, and turned his back on her.

He went into Alma's bedroom next, where the mess she had made earlier that morning had remained. There was no way for him to know how she would react to him tidying up after her, but he felt the need to. He needed to do something to keep his hands busy, something that made him feel as if he were being of use.

With a broom and dustpan in hand, Adam swept up the broken shards of records and glass, properly discarding of them in a marked box. Then, he sorted through the remaining salvageable items. Photos in one pile, and trinkets in the other. It had taken longer than Adam had suspected it would. But, eventually, the room was back to looking as it had before; organized, without a trace of mess.

Alma remained sound asleep on the couch. Breathing, of course, as Adam had been sure to check. 

Having only eaten peaches all day, Adam decided to cook something simple. He wasn't particularly hungry, and settled for a light soup. He made enough for two incase his mother awoke with hunger.

By the time that he was nearly done eating, something peculiar on the kitchen table had caught Adam's attention. A package of cigarettes, marked with the brand name Marmora, left half opened with only two cigarettes missing. It was the brand his father had always smoked, even long before Adam had been born. The smell was distinctly different from other cigarettes, and strangely nostalgic. It was a pleasant smell for Adam, despite not being the fondest of his fathers smoking habits, the man had been at his calmest when he had one in his hands.

Adam pulled a single cigarette out of the package and held it between his fingers. He brought the filter to his lips and pressed it there, mimicking the movements his father used to make while smoking. Then, he grabbed the lighter, and shoved it into his pocket. He stood from the kitchen table, and peered into the next room at his mother. Her breathing was still just as steady as before, her slumber undisturbed. Adam left the room. He didn't stop until he had made his way out the backdoor, headed towards the fences edge.

It was night time by then, though Adam didn't know the exact time. The second he had gotten caught up with cleaning, he had lost all track of time. The stars were shining vividly in the sky, a sight that he no longer got to see in the city; one of the rare things he had missed of his hometown.

Upon arriving to the edge of the fence, Adam took a seat in a patch of overgrown grass in an unattended area of the field. He hugged his knees to his chest and placed the cigarette between his lips. He held it there in silent contemplation without lighting it at first.

He thought of his father. A man who always smelled of smoke and soil. A man who never smiled in photographs, but had entire rooms bent over in laughter when he did make a joke. A man whose temper was strong, and frightening, but never violent. A man who tried to ignore the parts of his child that he didn't like. A man who let his child slip away. A man who never called. A man who never wrote. A man who died before a reconciliation could be made.

A child who had to live on with those regrets.

Adam cupped the cigarette with his hands, bringing the lighter to the end before lighting it. He inhaled the smoke, and promptly coughed as it filled his lungs. It was his first drag. It was terrible. He retched deeply from his throat, pondering how his father had ever managed to become a chain smoker when cigarettes tasted as awful as they did.

He took a second drag. It didn't get any better. He gagged as he exhaled, and then he crushed the lit end of the cigarette into the ground, taking deep breaths until his breathing no long took the form of smoke as it escaped his body. He found it hard to breathe for a moment, as if the breath had escaped his lungs completely.

Pressing the back of his head against the picket-fence, Adam closed his eyes. He inhaled and exhaled the clean night air until his heart was at a steady beat.

_I gave it a shot- and now I can say that I have. It was disgusting, I conclude, and I have no desire to try it ever again._

A breeze began to blow just then, gently fluttering the ends of Adam's hair. His eyes remained closed as he slumped his back further against the fence. He could feel the back of his dress shirt wrinkling, but he didn't care.

_"Sir, the Atlas is under attack!" A young boys voice cried._

_"Men, to your stations! We need to launch our counter-attack immediately!" A second boys voice bellowed._

_Adam peered through the hole in the fence, his glasses smacking against the wood as he got closer. He slowly lowered them, his vision becoming blurred as he attempted to peak through at the commotion coming from the neighbouring boys. There was no such luck. Adam's view was completely disrupted by tree trunks._

_"Blast the cannons!" The second boy bellowed, his voice surprisingly strong and commanding for such a young child._

_"They dodged the attack!"_

_Adam turned his head around so that his ear faced the hole instead, shifting until his position became more comfortable. He spent as much time listening as he could get away with, but he never pushed his luck too far. He didn't want his parents to figure out what he was secretly doing while they thought he was working._

Just behind his back, Adam could feel the rounded hole still in the fence, having gotten bigger and more worn out with the passage of time. He felt a gentle tickle of wind breezing through it, just as the sound of an overjoyed giggle filled the air. Adam opened his eyes, and looked all around. He was positive that it wasn't his imagination- his recollection of the past wasn't strong enough to bring noises so clearly to his ears.

And then, just seconds later, a voice began to sing. It started off very low and hushed, but gradually got more comfortable with the passage of the lyrics. The voice was deep, low and soft. It didn't take much thought for Adam to realize who it belonged to.

He turned onto his hands and knees, lining his eye up with the hole in the fence, cautious so as to not bump his glasses. Much to his dismay, it was far too dark to see a thing. So, instead, he turned so that his ear lined up with the hole, and continued to listen.

The song Shiro sang was unfamiliar to him, the lyrics not in English and the tune unrecognizable. Adam assumed that it was Japanese, but it was too difficult to distinguish from a distance. Every few lines, Keith would burst into giggles, and Shiro would try hard to keep the tune steady, despite sounding like he also wanted to laugh.

Adam wanted to hear the rest of the song, but he knew that staying to do so would border on invading Shiro's privacy. It wasn't as if he were a curious child anymore; he was a fully grown man, and eavesdropping wasn't very charming. He slowly crept around on his hands and knees in the darkness in an attempt to quietly slip away, but the crunch of a twig beneath his grip quickly gave him away.

Shiro had stopped singing almost immediately, his voice firm as he asked, "Is somebody there?"

Adam froze in place, his eyes widening and his heart stopping.

 _Stay still,_ he told himself, _stay still and he'll just think it was an animal._

"Uh-oh, Keith, there's so many trespassers lately. I guess I'll just have to call the police." Shiro loudly concluded.

"Wait, don't-" Adam quickly interjected, he stood to his feet with hands lifted into the air in a mock-plea. "It's just me."

Shiro was standing close to the fence's edge with a large grin on his face by the point. Sitting on his hip was rosy-cheeked baby Keith, still giggling away. "I knew it was you. I saw the smoke, and heard you nearly hacking up a lung. You smoke?"

"No, not at all," Adam admitted, lowering his arms. Slowly he took a few steps forward, but continued to keep his distance. "I was just trying it, I guess. I don't know why."

"Brand of Marmora?" Shiro asked, taking a whiff of the air, "I used to smoke that kind when I was a teenager. It's terrible stuff."

"You did?"

"Typical teenage rebellion, but I quit before I got too into it." Shiro explained, "I hope you're not planning on starting."

Adam shook his head, "No, I'm not."

"Good," Shiro smiled, "Health is a precious thing."

Adam gave a swift smile in return before he asked, "Why are the two of you out here? Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine! Maybe a little too fine, huh?" Shiro turned to face Keith, teasingly poking his cheeks as the baby lost control of his laughter once more, "For some reason, this little guy has a case of the giggles. He's way too energetic to get to sleep. I've been trying for over an hour now, but he's just too giggly."

"He must've had fun today." Adam concluded, "I won't lie, I heard you singing to him. It was a lovely song."

"You think so? It's one of my favourites. It's an old Japanese song called 'Ue o Muite Arukou'. Usually it puts him right to sleep."

Keith turned to face Adam, and began to kick around his feet as he made "ooh-ohh!" noises of excitement.

"Hi, honey," Adam said, with a tender smile, "Not in the mood to sleep, are you?"

Keith continued to giggle, his bottom teeth shining through as he did so. He continued to bounce in place, making it difficult for Shiro to hold him still.

"Do you.. maybe want to take a walk with us?" Shiro asked, his attention returning to Adam.

"I, uh," Adam quickly glanced back at his house. The lights in the livingroom were still on, but there was no sign of movement within the house. "I better not go too far. I'm a bit worried about my mom."

Shiro's eyebrows raised, his eyes widening slightly, "Is everything alright?"

"I think so, but I don't want to stray far just to be safe. I don't want her to hurt herself or anything."

"Of course. That's fine, don't worry about it!" Shiro quickly re-assured. 

"But, uhm..." Adam eyed the house again. It was as still as ever before. "Maybe we could walk along the fence's edge together for a few minutes? That way I can still keep an eye on things while getting a moment away at the same time."

"Ooh! Ooh!" Keith chirped, throwing his hands into the air.

Shiro chuckled, "I think that's a yes."

"I'll take it. I don't think anybody has ever been so eager to walk with me before."

"I'm telling you, Keith has really taken a liking to you. On the days where he sees you, he just won't stop babbling. It puts him in a great mood."

By then, the two had begun their slow walk along the fence's edge. Adam dragged the tips of his fingers across the top of the fence, which only came to his hip in height. "I'm very touched that he considers me such a good friend already." Adam said, half-joking. Then, glancing at the baby, he absently commented, "That's a lot of hair for a baby, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Shiro laughed, "He's growing it like crazy. My dad jokes that that's why his teeth took so long to come in- cause his body was focused on all of that hair. I don't have the heart to take him for a haircut just yet, though."

"The baby mullet look is pretty cute," Adam commented, "And on the bright side, the other babies can't talk enough to make fun of him yet so really, there's no rush on that haircut."

Shiro gave Adam a sidelong glance, "Ha-ha," he said, sarcastically.

"Hey, I said it was cute."

Shiro laughed quietly. He wasn't the type to take jokes too personally, a trait that Adam had quickly picked up on, and appreciated. It was nice to joke around and laugh with somebody his own age for once.

The night air around them remained still, save for the lively chirps of crickets hidden within the fields, that of which had become such a familiar noise that it was almost as if it weren't there at all. Shiro hummed quietly as he rocked Keith by his side, but his performance received only giggles from the tireless infant.

It was overall a pleasant night, if only there weren't the nagging feeling in the back of Adam's mind, a growing concern for Alma's well being, as he constantly glanced back at his house for confirmation that things were still alright.

"Don't let me keep you if you want to go back inside." Shiro said.

"No, that's not it," Adam replied. "Believe me, I'm not eager to."

"You just can't help being worried?"

"Yeah," Adam nodded, with a heavy sigh, "It's just in my nature. I guess I better go, after all."

Shiro stopped walking then, turning to face Adam, "Alright, no worries. Can I just ask you one thing really quick before then?"

"Go ahead."

"I hope it's not too out of the blue but I've been meaning to ask- do you have a date set for your father's funeral yet?"

Adam blinked a few times before he slowly nodded his head. "We do. It's this Thursday."

"Is it just family or open to the public?" Shiro asked, before quickly elaborating, "I thought I might stop by if it's open, since we were neighbours and all. Only if that's alright with you."

"It's open," Adam answered, "Feel free to drop by."

Although he wouldn't say it aloud, the idea of having Shiro's company by his side at his father's funeral was a comforting thought to Adam. It made the entire ordeal seem less exhausting.

"Great, I'll ask Curtis if he's available to babysit on Thursday. I'm sure he'll jump at the chance."

"Can I ask you something before I go as well?" Adam turned, his hand still perched on the top of the fence.

"Sure, what is it?" Shiro took a step forward as he replied. He and Adam were as close as the fence allowed them to be at that point.

"It's more of a request, really," Adam elaborated, briefly breaking eye contact before he continued, "Could you keep singing that song? I didn't get to hear it that well from far away."

Shiro laughed bashfully, a twinge of embarrassment striking him as his ears threatened to turn red. "I'm really not a great singer."

"You sounded fine to me," Adam countered, "And Keith seems to really enjoy it, too."

"Hmm," Shiro mused, lips pursed, "Just this once, but it stays between him, you, and me, alright?"

"I promise I'll resist the urge to write about it to the papers." Adam teased.

Shiro briefly shot Adam a sidelong glance again, though this time he was unable to resist from grinning as he did so. Slowly, he lowered his hand toward the fence's edge, his palm delicately placed on the top of Adam's hand. He gently stoked his thumb in a soothing motion, the contact enough to make Adam hold his breath, then he turned his gaze to Keith as he began to sing once more.

_"Ue o muite arukou,_  
_Namida ga kobore nai you ni,_  
_Omoidasu haru no hi,_  
_Hitoribotchi no yoru."_  


Even after Adam and Shiro had parted ways that night, Adam could feel the touch of the other man's hand against his.

The image of Keith's eyes slowly closing as he pressed his pudgy cheek against his father's shoulder was still strong in his mind, and the mellow harmony of Shiro's low voice continued to loop between his ears until he himself eventually found the willpower to go to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Shiro sings in this chapter is a real song- it's called Sukiyaki or Ue o Muite Arukou by Kyu Sakamoto! Feel free to give it a listen to get a feel for the atmosphere! (The translated lyrics are great too!)
> 
> Once again, thank you so much for reading this far! Don't forget to share your thoughts with me! ^^


	10. A Thursday in June

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for events that occur in this chapter:  
> -It takes place at a funeral so there will be mentions of death.  
> -Emetophobia. (Someone briefly ralphs in this chapter.)  
> -Panic attack

It was a Thursday in June, no different from any other. Spring gave way to summer, temperatures quickly rising as budding flowers bloomed.

Adam dressed in the nicest of his suits, an outfit he had weeks ago prepared for that day in particular. The day of his father's funeral.

He was the first to arrive alongside his mother, an hour before the service officially began. The funeral home was ominously vacant, minus the staffing, and since his father had already been buried days ago, the lack of casket was just as unnerving. But the service had felt necessary regardless, even if only for the sake of closure for the family members he had left behind.

Family members and friends slowly began to arrive. For all of it's small town glory, it was as quaint of a turn out as had been expected. There were no more than fifteen people in the room, all of whom had been people Adam hadn't seen since he was a child. He had to swerve through a sea of 'My, how you've grown', 'Look at how handsome you've become!', 'I heard that you're a writer, I had a great idea for a story where-', and, his least favourite of them all, 'So, are you married yet or just seeing somebody?'.

Adam grin and bore what he could. Many times over, he reminded himself that the service wouldn't last long. It would only last an hour, and then finally, he would come face-to-face with sweet, sweet liberation. Just an hour and it would all be over. Just one hour.

With twenty minutes to spare before the service began, Adam had already downed two cups of coffee. Normally, he had a preference for tea, but the coffee happened to be there, and it happened to be free, so he made an exception. He could feel his stomach twinge with nerves but he ignored it, crediting it mostly to his anxious nature. He reached for a third cup, and thoughtfully contemplated whether it was a wise idea to drink any more, when a voice from behind snapped him out of his train of thought.

"Hey, suits," The voice was immediately recognizable, and Adam could already feel himself putting on a smile before he had even fully turned away. "How've you been? It's been a few days since I've seen you."

When Adam fully faced Shiro, he nearly had to do a double take. His long fringe, usually sitting at the center of his forehead, was carefully gelled to the side, revealing his thick eyebrows and few small beauty marks near the start of his hairline. Somehow he looked younger with less hair in his face, his eyelashes much longer than Adam had ever realized they were. The suit he wore was simple, black with a dark purple tie, and matching black loafers with few scuffs that were only noticeable up close.

Adam blinked a few times, slowly lowering his hand from the coffee cup. "Hi," he replied, regaining his composure, "I'm- you look good. You clean up well."

"Yeah?" Shiro replied, breaking out into a grin, "Thanks. You look good, too."

Adam forced a smile, and nodded his head in thanks. It was as if his mind had suddenly drawn a complete blank, all sense of dialogue evading the area with not even a word left behind to help him out. Shiro didn't seem to notice much, and he quickly changed the subject.

"I hope you don't mind but I brought my parents along. They just got back from their trip and they knew your dad better than I did so it only seemed right to invite them."

Adam's line of vision slipped away from Shiro as he caught sight of Tex and Krolia entering the funeral home dressed in according black outfits. He turned his gaze back to Shiro and adjusted his glasses up the bridge of his nose before he replied, "Yeah, of course. That's completely fine."

"You holding up okay?"

"Yeah, I just have to get through the next..." Adam's voice drifted off as he checked his wristwatch, "Hour and eighteen minutes."

"An hour and eighteen minutes, huh? You've got it, no problem." Shiro nodded his head, "Sorry I'm late, by the way. Keith was having a difficult morning. He's probably giving Curtis a hell of a time now."

"That's okay," Adam commented absently, his eyes scanning across the room, not at all subtle about his distraction. Shiro didn't seem to mind, allowing the other man to mentally slip away for a few minutes.

"If it's alright," Shiro eventually spoke up, recapturing Adam's attention, "Could I see your mom before the service begins? Just to give her my condolences."

"Yeah, that's fine," Adam answered, "She should be around here somewhere."

With that, he walked out into the main floor of the home, and spotted his mother only a moment or two later. Shiro was close behind him as they approached her. Alma's face perked up as she caught sight of Shiro, and she quickly stood from her seat, extending her hands for a friendly handshake in greeting.

"Hi, Mrs. Wazir," Shiro greeted, shaking her hand very softly with his own, careful not to grip her hand as hard as he would've with anybody else. "How've you been?"

"Hello, dear," Alma greeted, smiling the most she had in days, "Oh, I'm doing just fine. Getting by somehow. How's the baby?"

"Keith is doing really well. He ate his first peach the other day. He adored it, it was really sweet." Shiro said with a fond smile, "Your son was there with us, actually. It was a nice moment."

"My son?" Alma asked, her eyebrows raised.

"Yes, Adam came over to join us for a few hours. We've been hanging out a lot lately these days. You never told me what a great guy he is." Shiro teased, poking at Adam's ribs with his elbow. Adam smiled faintly.

"Adam?" Alma murmured, looking surprised, "I haven't seen Adam for years."

Adam and Shiro froze in place for a second before exchanging looks of confusion with each other. Slowly, Shiro turned back to Alma, and gently asked, "What do you mean by that? Adam's right here."

"Oh, no, no," Alma quickly answered, shaking her head, "My son Adam moved away from home a long, long time ago."

"What are you talking about?" Adam interjected, his tone heavy with impatience, "I'm right. here. I've been home for weeks."

Alma stared blankly, her eyebrows furrowing and her mouth ever-so ajar as she peered so deeply at Adam that it was almost as if she were looking right through him.

"Mrs. Wazir? Are you alright?" Shiro asked, placing a cautious hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, I suppose I'm fine," Alma slowly took a seat on the chair behind her again.

"Do you know who I am?" asked Shiro.

"Yes," Alma replied, "You're my neighbour. You have a sweet little baby."

Shiro nodded his head, "That's right, my name is Shiro, and my son is Keith."

"I know that." Alma replied bluntly.

"Do you know who I have here with me?" Shiro gestured to Adam as he asked.

Alma glanced up at the man, and slowly nodded her head, "Sohail." she replied confidently.

"What? No." Adam replied bluntly. "I'm not Sohail. What's going on with you?"

"He's Adam," Shiro said to Alma. "Your son, Adam."

"Adam?" Alma repeated quietly. She nearly laughed as she added, "Yes, I know that. He drove me here."

_What the hell? What the hell? What the hell?_

Adam unintentionally held his breath. He didn't know whether to credit the coffee or the anxiety for the pounding of his heart, but either way, he was on the verge of being sick. He tried to steady his breathing but it felt like there was no air in the room for him to inhale, as if his body was no longer capable of the most basic human instinct.

"Yeah, that's right." Shiro replied. The expression on his face completely fell as he turned his gaze to Adam. He must've looked more awful than he realized. "Hey, are you-"

Before Shiro could finish his question, Adam shook his head, "I have to--" he gripped his chest, attempting to steady his breath- to no avail. "I'll be b...back."

With a quick spin of his heels, Adam had barreled through the crowd in no time at all, pushing through the entrance doors without stopping for so much as a second to greet those he had passed by. He stopped only when he had reached a vacant portion of the funeral home; a quiet spot at the side of the building where there sat a single chair covered in fallen twigs and leafs. Adam brushed it off and sat down, still attempting to catch his breath.

He had a lot to think about, each worry quickly filling his mind until it felt so positively full that it may as well burst into a thousand tiny pieces.

He was at his fathers funeral. His father was dead. There would be no reconciliation between them- maybe there never would've been one anyway but Adam would never know that for sure. His mother, alive as she was, had been showing clear signs of aging for some time and Adam had been too stubborn to notice it. When did it begin? How long had it been going on for? She was an old woman so it was no surprise, and yet, Adam had allowed himself to become consumed by other less pressing issues. How long had she needed help for? Oh God, how long? What if it had been for a very long time? What if it had begun before he had even left home? What if both of his parents had needed help for _that long_ and he had just left them alone to deteriorate on their own? Was it his fault that his father was dead? Was it?

Adam gripped tightly onto his mouth, the taste of coffee briefly resurfacing in his mouth to haunt him. He felt like he was going to be sick. No, he definitely was.

He scrambled to get out of his seat in time, and hovered over the nearest bushes as his mouth expelled warm liquid. He stood afterwards, wiping the corners of his mouth on his handkerchief. The ability to breathe had returned to him, albeit in very slow, harsh increments. The breaths were shallow, and they hurt very much, but it was something.

With the intention to sit in the empty chair once more, Adam had turned around just in time to watch as Shiro turned the corner. The man didn't hesitate to sprint over once he had locked eyes with Adam, his expression riddled with worry.

"Are you okay? You look like you're going to be sick."

"I was," Adam answered between breaths. "I... I can't breathe too well."

"It's okay, Adam," Shiro whispered, his voice instantly becoming delicately soft, "You're going to be fine."

"It's my fault, isn't it?" Adam exhaled sharply, gripping onto the chest of his suit, "My parents needed somebody to take care of them and I--I wasn't there." His lip began to quiver, and he felt the same sick feeling welling up inside of him again. His chest felt empty yet somehow full all at once. He couldn't hold back much longer- sobs began to escape from the back of his throat, his eyes quickly welling up with hot tears. "Oh God, it's all m-my fault. They were both sick- I didn't know they were both sick."

"Woah, woah, it's not your fault. Nothing is your fault." Shiro countered, his words quickly followed by Adam's rebuttal.

"It must be," Adam said between sobs, "They're both so old, I...I should've realized sooner. M-Maybe we didn't get along, b-but I didn't hate them."

"Hey, now-" Shiro muttered, his voice cracking with heartbreak. He slowly raised his hand, but then stopped himself mid-motion. "Can I put my hand on your shoulder?"

Adam didn't reply, he simply nodded his head in response, still trying to swallow back painful sobs. Shiro cupped Adam's shoulders in his hands, his grip firm and unwavering.

"Honey, listen to me," Shiro spoke with a steady patience, using a single hand to slowly rub up and down Adam's upper arm. "Just focus on your breathing, okay? Right now, your mom is inside and she's safe with my parents. Everything is okay. I've been neighbours with your parents my entire life. Whatever is happening right now, believe me, it's very sudden. None of this is your fault."

Tears continued to stream down Adam's face as Shiro's voice flowed through his mind. The words hadn't pieced together mentally, yet he felt a sense of ease over the man's warm tone. He swallowed back his tears and attempted to focus on his breathing as instructed, his hands unconsciously raising and gripping onto the sleeves of Shiro's suit.

"Good, great, keep going," Shiro encouraged in a hushed tone, a soft smile forming on his lips, "Breathe in with me," he said, slowly inhaling a long breath. Adam watched his lips as he did so, and followed suit, holding the breath until Shiro eventually said, "Okay, now breathe out."

Together, they took a long, deep breath. And then, several more, all as lengthy as the last. This continued on until Adam felt his ability to breathe returning to him. His mind began to clear of all troubling thoughts, each worry washing away until it was no longer so overwhelming to bare all at once. His eyesight remained fixated on little details of Shiro's face- which served as a lovely distraction. He stared long and hard at the beauty marks on his forehead and concluded that it was rather amusing that three were positioned in a triangular shape.

The incident had lasted ten minutes at the most, but it had felt like hours had passed by the time Adam could breathe again. He loosened his grip on Shiro's arms, and lowered his glasses to wipe the tears from his face.

"I'm really sorry about that." Adam mumbled. Now that he had a more clear grasp on the situation, he felt embarrassed by his outburst. "I don't know what happened- I couldn't stop myself from exploding."

"Don't be sorry," Shiro quickly cut in. "I think you were having a panic attack. You've been so stressed out, and you just downed a half pot of coffee. It's no wonder."

A quiet snicker escaped Adam's mouth, "Yeah," he replied, wiping his glasses off on the hem of his blazer. "That wasn't very wise, was it?"

"You okay now?"

"I think so," Adam answered. His heart was still racing, but he no longer felt as ill as he had before. "Thank you, Shiro, so much."

"It's no problem," Shiro said, pausing briefly before he added, "You can, uh, you can call me Takashi, by the way... If you want to."

Adam stared a second, his befuddled expression softening into a content smile. "Then..." his voice drifted off for a second. He reached forward, wrapping his arms around Shiro's shoulders. He perched his chin on his own arm and held onto the other man tightly. It took no time for Shiro to return the gesture, his arms wrapping around Adam's waist, hands tight against his back. Adam's heart began to pound again, only this time, he didn't mind it. "Thank you so much, Takashi."

"Adam," Shiro whispered quietly into Adam's ear for only him to hear, "Everything that happened between the three of you in the past... I don't know all of the details, but those were choices that your parents consciously made while still in a state to do so. It shouldn't be up to the kid to fix every problem for their parents, and stay where they're miserable. You had a life to live. I couldn't imagine putting Keith into that type of position. Don't blame yourself for any of that."

"You're right," Adam mumbled, his cheek growing warm as it pressed against Shiro's, "If I stayed, I would've been miserable under their roof. Always selling myself short, and never allowed to be myself. They never would have accepted all of me, and I never would've started to write."

"Exactly. You made all the right calls, Adam."

Slowly, Adam pulled away from the hug, smiling fondly at Shiro as they came face-to-face, "I guess we should go inside now."

"You sure? You still look a little under the weather."

"We have to go back sooner or later to get this over with," Adam replied, "I'll be fine now."

"Alright, but to make sure that you keep your balance," As Shiro spoke, he took Adam's hand into his his own and interlocked their fingers, "Is this okay?"

Adam could feel the cold metal of Shiro's wedding ring against his finger, but he paid it no mind. It reminded him that Shiro was hurting too, that he himself wasn't the only person in the world with problems from the past that continued to loom over him, haunting his every day.

"Yeah, that's fine."

_For all it's worth, I'm not alone._

* * *

The service began only moments after Shiro and Adam had re-entered the building. Alma had already been seated with Tex and Krolia, so Adam and Shiro took the nearest seats that they could. Their hands remained linked for as long as the service ran. Admittedly, Adam found something very satisfying about holding another man's hand at the funeral of his father who would rather ignore his son than acknowledge his male attraction.

Few people had gone to the front podium to speak about Sohail. Most of which were surviving friends from his very distant past. Their stories included tales of the times in which they were still young, many details long since forgotten. Alma and Adam opted to not speak, Alma in no state to do so, and Adam with no interest in doing so.

After the hour had passed, the service had come to a peaceful close. Adam heaved a long sigh of relief. He didn't feel the sense of liberation that he had been hoping to, but it was, at the very least, one of many weights lifted off of his shoulders. He bid farewell to his relatives and family friends as they passed by. The most difficult goodbye of them all came when his hand had to release Shiro's. Perhaps it was a tad dramatic- they were, after all, neighbours with only a short distance apart, but Adam didn't want to leave his side just yet.

"I'll see you around soon?" Shiro asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"Yeah, plenty." Adam answered with a smile. "Thank you again for today, Takashi."

"Anytime. I'm just a phone call away, or, a five minute walk. Don't be afraid to ring me up if you need any help."

Adam didn't have to think hard to know what Shiro had meant. If he needed any help with Alma, who had been continuing to exhibit concerning traits throughout the duration of the funeral.

"I think I'll be taking her straight to a doctor after we leave here," Adam explained with a sigh. "I'll keep you updated on what's happening."

"Good call," Shiro replied, "I better get back home but I look forward to hearing from you again. Good luck with everything."

Adam smiled, thanked Shiro, and waved him goodbye until he was finally out of clear sight. Then, he turned to face his mother again, who had since become pre-occupied with talking to another guest- Adam couldn't get a clear sight of their face, but it had appeared to be somebody that hadn't been present during the service. Too late of an arrival to attend, he assumed. He approached his mother, and paid no mind to the mystery guest.

"Mom? We should be heading off no-" Adam's words were cut off point-blank as the guest turned to face him. He was a tall man, few inches taller than Adam, with a slim body and long limbs. He wore his blond hair in a spiky style that was much too juvenile to suit him.

"Woah, Adam?" The familiar voice laughed. Adam immediately gazed at his left hand- his ring finger was vacant. "Long fuckin' time, man! I was just shootin' the shit with your mom here! She seems like a chill broad. But Jesus, man. Look at you, lookin' all hoity toity in that suit. It's been a minute, huh?"

"Roy?" Adam murmured, quickly coughing to clear his throat. " _What_ are you doing here?"


	11. Shiro, Go Round The Roses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter is based on the song 'Sally, Go Round The Roses' although listening to that song is not necessary to enjoy this chapter- it just felt fitting!
> 
> Also, heads up, lots of swearing in this chapter lol! Enjoy!

"So it is early dementia after all?" 

"Yeah, that's what the doctor confirmed it as. I suppose it should've been obvious." 

"It's early, though. Things are hard to catch early- that's why so many people end up in late stages of illnesses without even realizing." 

Adam's fingers tapped along the side of the phone that he held to his ear. His other hand was pre-occupied with twirling the long coil that connected the phone to the base. It was his first conversation with Shiro since the funeral, the topic quickly becoming somber.

"That's true." Adam eventually answered.

"What kind of treatments are there? Not many, I'm guessing?" 

"Not many at all. There's no cure for it, and all of the medication to subside the symptoms are fairly experimental so they're touch-and-go."

"Oh, I see."

"She's not interested in taking medication for it, and nobody can force her to, so..." Adam's voice drifted off. 

"So she's planning to let nature take it's course?"

"Yeah." 

"Adam, I'm... I'm so sorry, that'll be rough to see." 

"Don't be sorry, it's not your fault," Adam almost laughed, "In a way, I'm almost relieved- I mean not that she has dementia- but... the fact that there's an explanation for everything now. She could never remember our conversation on why I don't like the word queer, and when she broke all of those things in her room- They were oddly haunting experiences but... they make sense now." 

Shiro laughed quietly, "Yeah? That's a good way to look at it, then." 

"I'll have to stay in town a lot longer than I planned, though. She can't live on her own like this. I'll have to look into retirement homes and long term care facilities to see if there might be space for her somewhere."

"There's a nice lakeside place on the outskirts of town," Shiro began to explain, "The building is designed in a vintage style. Maybe it's worth a look?" 

"There is? Do you know the name of it?" 

"Sorry, I really can't remember. But if you need a drive over to check it out, I'm more than happy to help." 

"Oh, that'd be great. I'll take you up on that offer as soon as you're free for it, Takashi." 

"Well, uh," Shiro paused a few seconds, "I'm free this afternoon. I just have to run a couple errands first." 

"This afternoon?" 

"Yeah. Does that work for you?" 

Adam briefly glanced at his mother. She seemed well enough to be on her own for a short period of time- having been in a good mental space that day, but he still wasn't sure just how long she should be left on her own. He didn't want to push any limits.

"That could work," Adam answered. 

"Great! Oh, and- one more question." 

"Hm?" 

"What are you wearing?" 

Adam froze. "Excuse me?" 

"What type of clothing have you been wearing?" 

"Nothing sexy if that's what you're trying to get at." 

Shiro was quiet for a moment. "You, uh, said you, uh," he began to stutter, "you only brought... suits with you, right? I have some spare clothes you could have since you're staying in town longer." 

"Oh, I see," Adam's tone raised slightly, a hint of tease beneath it, "So you're saying you want me to slip into something a little more comfortable?"

Shiro made a strange noise just then- something between an expression of shock and a laugh. "Hey now, I didn't mean for this to sound nearly as suggestive as you're making it out to be."

Adam felt a little sorry about his joke. Just a little.

"I don't want to be an inconvenience to you. Are you sure?" 

"Yeah, of course, it's no trouble. I'll bring over a bag today and you can keep whatever you want from it."

"Thank you. I really appreciate that, Takashi." 

Shiro hummed contently, "Anytime, pal." 

Adam smiled to himself at the pleasant warmth Shiro managed to emit even through the barriers of the telephone. Still, there was an underlying trouble that was bothering him- long before the call had began. 

Roy. 

Shiro still didn't know that the mutual ex of the two was back in town, and that he had initiated contact with Adam. He had to let him know, sooner or later, but bringing the subject up was proving to be difficult. 

"There's something else I'd like to talk about when you come over later."

"Oh?" Shiro's interest had been piqued, "Is everything alright?" 

"Everything's fine," _I think._ "It's just something I'd prefer to talk to you about in person. It's pretty complicated."

"Okay, sure, that's fine. I should be done with my errands in about an hour or two, and I'll be right over after. Is it alright if Keith is with me?" 

"Of course that's fine." Adam replied, "I'll see you guys soon." 

"See you soon!"

* * *

To pass the hour by, Adam had begun a quick tidy of the house to get it into better shape for visitors. He started by clearing the floors and tabletops, not wanting Keith's youthful curiousity to put him into any danger as he wondered around the new environment. Afterwards, he straightened out the couch cushions, and re-aligned the blanket draped over the back of it- little aesthetic fixes that weren't necessary, but helped to improve the overall look of the home. 

Alma was quietly in her room for most of the afternoon, her door open just enough so that Adam could occasionally peer around the corner to ensure that she was still fine. 

Moments later, there was a loud knock at the front door. Adam briefly glanced at his watch to check the time. Only a tad over an hour has passed- much sooner than he had been expecting Shiro to arrive. Not that he minded. The house looked good enough, and he looked forward to seeing the other man again, even if he were to become the bearer of bad news. 

With a smile on his face, Adam opened the door, his expression dropping all at once as he made eye contact with his unexpected guest. 

"Hey, babe, ya miss me?" Roy greeted with a cocky grin. "Ay, where's my hug? Come on, bring it in."

Before Adam could respond, Roy had stepped into the home, wrapping his arms around the other man's shoulders. Adam tensed up, refusing to return the gesture. Roy pulled away quickly, and walked passed Adam, into the house. 

"What are you doing here?" Adam asked as soon as he returned to his senses. 

Roy looked taken aback by his bluntness. "Woah, calm the flames, babe. You ran out so fast at the funeral that we never got our chance to really catch up, ya feel me?" 

"What would we even talk about? We have nothing to catch up on."

"I'll cut to the chase. I know about the book, Adam. 'The Sweetness of Summer', I skimmed over it a couple times and I know a hot ass character like Rodger **had** to be based on me. It was totally obvious." 

Adam froze up, his mouth slightly ajar in shock. "I-"

"Dude, chill," Roy replied, placing his hands on Adam's shoulders, "I didn't realize you were so in love with me but I'm kinda into it."

Quickly brushing Roy's hands off of his shoulders, Adam shook his head. "I'll cut to the chase with you as well. I'm not in love with you."

"Uh-huh, suuure. Your book totally had 'I'd still fuck him' vibes." 

"It was just a book, Roy. Dramatized for entertainment value." 

"Why so stiff, man?" Roy furrowed his eyebrows, crossing his arms over his chest. "We had something good going on, didn't we? I thought you'd be over the moon that we're back in town at the same time." 

"Yeah, well, maybe my father's funeral wasn't the best place for you to attempt to rekindle an old flame." 

"What? Me popping in and saying hello is automatically trying to hook up?"

"I know more about you than you realize, Roy. You're not the person I thought you were back then. You're not at all the same guy that I based my book on." 

"What the hell? Where is this cryptic assessment coming from all of a sudden? I'm still the same guy I always was and there's nothing wrong with that. You sure liked 'that guy' a lot as I clearly recall."

"Here's a newsflash for you, Roy, and I won't beat around the bush. I know all about-" Adam cut his words off short as soon as he heard the sound of a vehicle pulling into the driveway. He temporarily froze in place, praying to a higher power that it wasn't Shiro outside. How bad things would look if it were. Adam rushed to the opened window, just in time to catch sight of Shiro in the midst of opening his car door to retrieve Keith from the back seat. His eyes widened and his expression went blank. "Leave. You have to leave. Now." 

"What the fuck is going on wi-" 

"Did I stutter? Get out of my house!" Adam raised his voice, quickly covering his mouth with his hand- as if the gesture was somehow capable of taking back the sound. _Crap. I hope Takashi didn't hear that._ "Go out the back door. You can't let anybody see you." 

"Oh, that's how it is, huh? I get it." Roy sighed, shrugging his hands outwards, "You have a boyfriend now or something? And you're scared he'll get all lime green jello if he sees me here? Sure, fine. I'll leave." 

"Just go!" Adam grunted in a loud whisper, watching as Shiro made his way up the front path to the house. 

"Alright already! I'm leaving. Fuck." Roy grumbled, stomping towards the back of the house. 

Once his feet sounded distant enough, Adam made his way to the front door, swinging it open as fast as he could. Shiro stood there, baby Keith babbling contently on his hip, and a smile on his face. "Good afternoon, Adam." 

"Takashi!" Adam greeted, his breath heavy with panic. "Come right in!" 

"Sure," Shiro replied. He began to take a step but quickly stopped himself. "Oh shoot, I forgot the bag of clothes in my car. I'll just run over and grab it." 

"No!" Adam panicked, causing Shiro to furrow his eyebrows. "Why the rush? It can wait until later." 

"It'll just take a second," Shiro said, still giving Adam an odd look. "I thought you might want to try on some stuff before we head out."

Before Adam could stop him, Shiro had already hurried down the porch steps, just as Roy was creeping down the side of the house. In a panic, Adam began to gesture with his hands towards Roy in a desperate attempt to tell him to hide somewhere he wouldn't be spotted. But it didn't matter. Roy already had his eyes set on Shiro, a look of complete confusion on his face. 

"Wooooooah now! You didn't tell me _he_ was the guy coming over!" Roy yelled, causing Shiro to jolt and turn to the source of the noise. 

Even from a short distance, Adam could see as Shiro's breathing halted, a mixed look of shock and hurt on his face. Slowly, he turned towards the porch, staring up at Adam with a pleading look. "Adam..? What..." He swallowed back, "What is Roy doing here?" 

"Since when do you guys know each other?" Roy asked. He began to walk over, much to Adam and Shiro's dismay. 

Adam hurried down the porch steps, and paid no attention to Roy. His only concern in the moment was Shiro- and how awful the entire situation must have looked out of context. 

"I promise you, Takashi- he's an unwanted guest." Adam explained clearly, "This is what I wanted to talk to you about." 

"Woah. Fuckin' harsh, man." Roy grumbled. "We're just hanging, what's the issue?"

Shiro was at a complete loss for words, the look in his eyes far surpassing a surface level of pain. His breaths quivered as they exited his mouth.

There was a long, uncomfortable silence, with the same intensity of two lone gunmen at a standstill. Then, the silence was broken by Roy- in the most distasteful manner.

"So you decided to keep the kid, huh?" These were the first words that the man had spoken to Shiro since before suddenly leaving him in the middle of the night many months before.

Expression returned to Shiro's face slowly, eyebrows tightly knitting together in the center. If it were not for the baby he held at his side, he looked ready to pounce on Roy and shut his mouth for good. "You... You have no right to even look at him." 

Just then, Keith began to cry, with not even a warning sob to begin with- a full on wail from the start. Whether he could detect Shiro's shift in mood, or just the tension alone, was unclear. But it only made things worse. Roy visibly grimaced. 

"Some things don't change, huh?"

If not for Adam taking a step over to block Shiro's view of Roy, he was almost certain that the man would have decked the blond within seconds. 

"I asked you to leave, Roy. Go." Adam stated, his voice going from firm to soft as he turned his attention to Shiro, "Give me the chance to explain this to you. I know it looks bad." 

Shiro slowly shook his head, "No, Adam, I'm sorry. Not right now..." his voice drifted off, and he began to back up. His anger had subsided to plain hurt. "I have to go." 

"Takashi, please." Adam pleaded, but he knew it was a futile effort. He couldn't blame Shiro for turning away from him. 

He watched as the man placed Keith delicately back into his car seat, kissing his reddened cheeks in an attempt to soothe his cries. He got into the drivers seat, and tossed a filled black bag out of the window before taking off. It was tightly tied but Adam could immediately tell that it was the clothing that he had promised to bring. Then, he drove off. Not looking back even once.

"Are you happy now?" Adam turned to Roy, arms crossed and lips pursed.

Roy ignored his question, instead deciding to ask his own. "Since when do the two of you hang out?" 

"It's not any of your business. You should've left the first time I asked you to." 

"Or maybe he should just learn to chill. God, does he always have to be so sensitive and boring now? He used to be fun, y'know, once upon a time."

"Are you serious right now?" 

"Real serious. I had to get out while I still could, and catch the real fun while I'm still young. If that makes me a bad guy then so be it." 

Adam scoffed. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. This man- right before him, uttering the most ignorant things Adam had ever heard- was a real man that both he and Shiro had dated. How strong could their rose-tinted glasses have been?

"Most people would use the term 'deadbeat', actually." Adam retorted. "Now, can you do what you do best and get out of the picture?" 

Roy glared through squinted eyes. "You want me gone so bad? Fine, I'm leaving."

After what had felt like ages, Roy finally left the property, but it was too little too late. Shiro had already been hurt, and Adam hadn't the slightest clue how he could make things better.

Adam glanced at the Shirogane residence in hopes of seeing the man. Shiro had pulled into the driveway long ago, and Adam had only caught glimpse of him briefly as he hopped into the backseat with Keith. He stayed there for a long time.

* * *

"It's okay, sweetie, we're home now," Shiro hushed Keith quietly. A statement that wasn't entirely true. They were parked in their home's driveway, yes, but they weren't inside their home. They were still in the car, air conditioning blasting, Shiro sitting uncomfortably on the floor beside Keith's car seat with his hands busy tickling the baby's sides. Keith continued to cry.

"I'm sorry you had to see that. I know it's must've been scary for you to see me get all grumpy like that." Shiro spoke in a quiet tone, "Believe it or not that guy used to be your dad too- Well, it was only for about two weeks, so I'm sure you don't remember. What's even crazier is that I dated him for a long, long time before that."

Keith's cries turned to quiet sobs. He always became engrossed when Shiro would talk to him for long periods of time, so Shiro made a point to chat with him very often, though usually the topics of conversation were much lighter.

"He used to be pretty cool back in the day, believe me. He was really sweet and romantic in a bad boy sort of way. I guess I overlooked a lot of bad traits, though. I try to see the best in people, but maybe the best in him was just me hoping for the best. Does that make sense?"

Keith sniffled.

"Love is blind, they say. And I get why they do. I only started noticing all of his bad traits after we had a baby together- Oh, but, that's not your fault, of course. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me so pay no mind to what he said back there." Shiro smiled softly, using his sleeve to wipe the wetness from Keith's face.

"That's my brave little fella. No more tears, alright? Do you remember how much you used to cry when you were colic? I hope you don't remember. It's a very painful condition for babies to have. I felt so bad for you but Roy- of course he didn't care. Again- not your fault, he just lacks compassion."

Shiro sighed and slumped against the back of drivers seat. "How on earth anyone could see your sweet little face in agony and not give a damn is beyond me. They'd need a heart of pure ice or something." Shiro extended his hand towards Keith, which the baby then grasped onto curiously. He wrapped his hands around Shiro's pointer finger and brought it to his mouth. "Ah, ulterior motives, huh? I'm not a human teething ring, you know." he joked. Much to his surprise, Keith giggled.

"When Roy left me, I didn't cry. Not even one little tear. So tell me why sometimes you're so cute that it brings a tear to my eye, huh? Figure that one out." Shiro laughed under his breath, but he could feel the warm threat of tears brimming in his eyes. "I didn't ever feel like crying over him until now, that is. I guess I didn't have the time or energy before but seeing him again really reopens old wounds. I don't even want to think about why he's over at Adam's place."

Shiro took a deep breath, keeping a collected control over his emotions. "I'm okay. I'm fine." he assured himself, thin streams running down his cheeks. He quickly wiped them away on the back of his sleeve. "This stays between us, alright?"

Keith formed a small circle with his mouth and made a high-pitched 'ooh!' noise.

Shiro laughed between sniffles, "I thought you might say that." He slumped his shoulders downward and rested his head on Keith's lap, careful not to put any actual weight on it. Keith drummed his hands along Shiro's head for a moment, taking particular interest in yanking his ear. The baby eventually leaned down and rested his cheek on Shiro's large tuft of hair, a large pool of drool to follow- but Shiro didn't care. By then he had lost it, letting tears flow freely down his face for the first time in lord knew how long. He needed himself a good cry. It was long overdue.

"I love you so much, buddy." Shiro mumbled to Keith, "I don't regret a thing that happened cause it means that I got you out of the deal, and that's worth putting up with anything. I'll tell you again and again every day until you're old enough to tell me to shut up. I love you."

Keith babbled nonsensically in return, still tugging on the edges of Shiro's ear. Shiro sniffled and laughed quietly.

"I'm sorry, I know you really wanted to see Adam today." Shiro sighed, "I did too."

There was a knock at the car window.

"Door's open." Shiro called out. Seconds later, the side door was sliding open.

"Hey, pal," It was his father, Tex's, voice. "What's going on? You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Shiro mumbled in return. He slowly moved his head up from Keith's lap, wiping his eyes roughly with his hands. "Just a long morning."

"Hey now, you cryin'?" Tex asked, leaning into the car. "What happened?"

"Roy was over at Adam's. We didn't say much but..." Shiro's voice drifted off as he shrugged his shoulders.

"But it's all comin' down on ya now, huh? Aw, hun, I'm sorry." Tex brought his hand to Shiro's face and gently stroked his cheek. "Speakin' of, you've got company but would ya like me to send him off?"

Shiro's eyebrows quickly furrowed, "Who? Roy?"

"Lord no, you woulda heard your mom out here with a shotgun if he'd shown his face on this property," Tex laughed, "I mean Adam, he called about a half million times and just now he came to the door."

Shiro smiled meekly. "That's okay. You can tell him where to find me. I reckon we've got a lot to talk about."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anybody reading this wondering 'How the hell did those two ever date this total dumbass?' Stay tuned! Next chapter will include some brief flashbacks!


	12. Roy F*cker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to start this chapter off with a big thank you to everybody!! Peaches just hit 100 kudos after the last chapter and I'm really happy about it! This is a fanfic first for me, so it's definitely blowing my mind! Thank you all so much for the kudos, comments, bookmarks, etc!! You really give me the energy to keep going with this story!! Thank you so much!!

There was that thing about Roy that set him apart from the other boys. Aside from the plain fact that he was one of the few gay men in town, there was a special thing that appealed to two other boys in particular. Beneath the grungy surface level attitude, Roy had a real sense of adventure. 

Shiro loved that Roy liked to do wild, dangerous things, because his personality craved the same endeavors. There was no such thing as a dull day in the company of Roy. If he woke up one morning and decided that he wanted to sky dive, then he'd be strapped to a parachute by that same afternoon. If he wanted to go on a spontaneous trip halfway across the country, he'd find himself an RV and he'd do it. No holds barred. Roy was an adventure to be around- and Shiro loved adventures.

On the reversal, the things about Roy that appealed to Adam were the sides that he showed him exclusively- a late night Romeo that stole him away from the somber chains of his oppressive home. A man who he could run away with in the middle of the night without any major commitment to weigh them down. It was fun, it was a fling.

He never talked about serious things- never talked any more than he needed to talk, but when he did, he kept his words sweet and simple, as if he tread cautiously with each word, knowing well the venom he was capable of spitting. His cocky personality was more charming when he was younger and had the suave moves to back it up, but it wasn't a personality that had aged well into his adulthood. By the time he and Shiro had a baby together, the smoke and mirrors had worn off, leaving only the bitter husk of the man that he used to be.

* * *

**July 1991.**

"I know we just started dating," Shiro muttered, his hands clung to the sides of Roy's face, a smile spread from ear to ear, "But I feel a real connection with you. You're wild, and daring. I've never met anybody quite like you."

"Yeah. Me too." Roy replied, pressing the tip of his nose against Shiro's, "You're like, totally fun to do all this crap with. Not a lot of guys out there like you. They've always got something tying them down."

"Not me," Shiro shook his head, "I just want to have fun with you."

"That's what makes you such a tight squeeze, man." 

"You probably shouldn't phrase it like that." Shiro laughed awkwardly. 

Roy didn't seem to catch his comment, and continued to speak, "Everyone else is wantin' to settle down at this age but it's way too soon. There's way too much left to do." 

"Yeah, I agree," Shiro replied, "I mean, obviously one day I want to start a family of my own but that's years from now- in my thirties or something." 

"See, now, that's the kind of thing I like to hear."

* * *

**July 1991.**

"Be quiet, my parents are asleep." A twenty-three year old Adam hushed Roy as he snuck out his bedroom window and into the backyard. It was a one-story home so the climb was minuscule at best but Roy had offered his hand in assistance regardless.

"I still don't get why you've gotta sneak out. You're a grown up, babe." Roy responded.

"I'm still in the closet, in case you've forgotten. I don't really know my parents stance on this sort of thing but they're senior citizens so I'm not really itching to find out."

"Oh yeah, I keep forgettin' that they're old as balls." Roy sighed. Then, with a smirk, he added, "Well, it's whatever. Sneaking around is kind of hot."

Adam smiled back, "Yeah. I can't lie. It's been pretty fun."

"My van's parked down the street. I thought maybe you and I could go down by the lake tonight or something." Roy wrapped his arms around Adam's waist, sliding his hands into his back pockets. "You dig?"

Adam couldn't help biting the inside of his lower lip as he felt Roy's body ease against his. 

"Yeah, I dig alright."

* * *

**Present Day.**

"Are you alright?" Adam asked as he poked his head into the car door. Tex had told him where to go after he'd been given permission to do so from Shiro.

"I'm fine. Had a nice long talk with my confidant over here." Shiro said, tapping Keith's cheek with his index finger as he did so. "He gives pretty good advice."

Adam smiled meekly. He pointed to an empty seat in the car. "Is it alright if I sit?"

Shiro gave him a nod of approval, so he entered the car and sat, sliding the door shut behind him to keep the cool air inside. "Takashi, I am just... so sorry about what you had to encounter back there. I...I know it must've looked awful-"

"It's okay, Adam, I..." Shiro coughed to clear his throat. He could still feel a wetness on his cheeks, and knew it probably wasn't helping him put up a tough image. "I trust you. I really do. So I don't think you'd do anything to hurt me, don't worry. I still, uh, would definitely like to hear the explanation, though."

"It's a long story. Kind of. Definitely a huge pain in the-" Adam briefly glanced over at Keith, who stared up at him with wide eyes, "-butt."

* * *

**September 1991.**

"It's been real, babe." were Roy's parting words of choice. He was never one with words but Adam had been well aware of this for some time.

They both knew from the start that their summer fling couldn't last forever- it was nearly Autumn, and the rainy season had officially begun. But the thing to end their relationship wasn't time, or weather, it was the threat of exposure. Adam's parents had become aware of the situation, and he didn't want things to spread any further. Unknowingly to Adam the time, it was the last thing that Roy had wanted as well, though for vastly different reasons.

"It has been." Adam replied curtly, "Thank you for one of the most exciting summers of my life."

* * *

**November 1995.**

"I can't take this anymore, Taks. It's three in the fuckin' morning and I have to be up for work soon," Roy grumbled, his head in his hands as he tugged at the fringe of his hair. "My head is splittin', man. Why the fuck won't he stop crying already?"

Shiro was used to being the primary caregiver for Keith at this point- Roy was little to no help, contrary to what he had promised when the two had excitedly awaited the birth of their child.

"He's in a lot of pain, Roy. We just have to be patient with him. Colic doesn't last forever."

"Well it sure fuckin' feels like it will."

"Just go back to sleep, babe. I'll take him into the living room for awhile and calm him down."

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Without much of a fight, Roy wrapped himself up in the blankets once more, blocking his ears with both ends of the pillow.

Shiro let out a sigh as he took the swaddled baby into his arms, and carried him into the living room, careful to close the bedroom door as he exited. Keith cried on and on for what had felt like many long, endless hours, as he did most nights. By the time he had stopped, both he and Shiro had drifted off into slumber, Keith still delicately in Shiro's arms.

Later that morning, Shiro had awoken to an empty apartment- and a note from Roy left for him to find on the kitchen table.

 _'I can't fucking do this. I'm gonna lose my mind. Wishing the best for you and the baby, but count me out._  
_-Roy.'_

Shiro didn't know why it had surprised him to be left in the night, but it did. 

As much as it hurt him, he couldn't find the energy to shed even a single, fleeting tear. Keith did enough crying for the both of them.

Less than a week later, and with nowhere else to turn, Shiro returned to the countryside, and began to raise Keith with the aid of his parents.

* * *

**Present Day.**

"So he was just really determined to hook up with you?" 

At that point, Shiro had taken a seat in the middle spot of the car's backseat, beside Adam who sat at his left. He held Keith in his arms, the baby having become anxious with sitting still in his carseat for too long. 

"Yeah," Adam replied honestly, "I kept telling him that I'm not interested but he wasn't taking the hint." 

Shiro snickered, and Adam raised an eyebrow. "Is that amusing to you?"

"No, no," Shiro said with a laugh, "I just- How did we both ever date him?"

Adam laughed quietly with relief, "I.. have no idea." 

"How have I let myself be depressed for months over him?" Shiro's voice was hushed- practically a whisper. "Before you showed up in town, I spent every night laying awake and thinking to myself, 'What did I do wrong? How could I have made him stay?' Then, we found out he was cheating on us both to begin with and it made a lot of answers clear. There's nothing I could've done. He would've ended up leaving me on a dime sooner or later." 

"I got off pretty easy in comparison. We ended things on a good note after a short discussion." Adam explained. "I still thought fondly of him until you and I met." 

"If we hadn't met, you'd probably be on a date with him right now." 

"Ugh," Adam cringed, though he knew it was true. "Don't even say that." 

Shiro laughed, and Adam was short to follow. He could heave a hefty sigh of relief knowing that Shiro was feeling better- that he wasn't mad at him, and that their friendship hadn't been poorly affected by the entire ordeal. 

"Us meeting must have been destined." Adam said, "Some string of fate to ensure that we aren't both fucked over by the same guy time after time." 

"I think so, too. So I really have to say- thank you for being a part of my life." As Shiro spoke, he gently tilted his head to the side, resting it on Adam's shoulder. He eased his grip on Keith, allowing the baby to crawl across his lap and onto Adam's. Adam didn't mind. Not one bit. 

_I feel his warmth against me; this time accompanied by the precious affection of his tiny child perched upon my lap. I lay my cheek upon his head, the way I would only with somebody special. Before I can push away such thoughts, a moment of clarity strikes me and I think to myself; I love them both. I really do._

Adam rested his hands around Keith's back, locking his fingers tightly together to ensure that the baby didn't fall backwards as he kicked his tiny feet around. Adam gently bounced one knee, and Keith began to giggle. Holding him felt natural at that point. 

Shiro reached a hand forward and gently tickled Keith's cheek with the tips of his fingers. "Can I ask you for a favour, Adam?" 

"Sure," Adam replied almost instantly. "What is it?" 

"How would you feel about calling Roy and setting up a meeting with him?"

Adam raised an eyebrow, "After the discussion we just had? Not eager." 

Shiro chuckled, "I want to talk to him one last time- on my own terms. To finally get some closure on our relationship."

 _Closure_ , a word that Adam had gotten to know well over the past few weeks, had stuck out to him. It was hard to seek, and even harder to accomplish. He couldn't deny Shiro of an attempt at it- even if he sensed that the effort may be in vain. 

"I could do that for you."

* * *

Getting into contact with Roy again hadn't been an easy task. Adam had spent over an hour searching the phone book for his telephone number, where he had discovered that Roy had a surprisingly common surname. He wasn't sure of his address either, which only made things all the more difficult. 

On his seventh attempt at calling a residence, Adam had the luck of finally reaching a Roy- though regrettably not the one he was looking for. The man on the other line seemed to be elderly, and rather confused as to why a young man would call looking for him by name only to suddenly conclude that it wasn't actually him he wanted to speak to. It was a long, tiring explanation that the old man had trouble understanding. By the end, Adam had slapped the phone back onto the wall and sunk into his chair in defeat. 

_For crying out loud. I never want to become that old._ Adam thought to himself in frustration. 

He rested his forehead on his arms as he leaned over the table and closed his eyes for a moment. He thought of his mother briefly, and how the issue with retirement lodging hadn't been resolved yet, since Shiro had left early all thanks to Roy. It didn't seem like a pressing issue just yet- his mother had been doing well for the past few days, but Adam still wanted to tread with caution. He'd feel immensely guilty if she hurt herself in the future because she wasn't under professional care.

With a sigh of resolve, Adam lifted his head and began to make calls again. This time, the third attempt was his lucky try. He knew instantly that it was the Roy he was looking for. 

"City sperm bank. You spank it, we bank it. How can I help ya?" 

Oh, the nineties. A time when every man thought that he was a stand up comedian each time the phone rang. 

"Roy?" Adam replied. 

"Yeah, sup? Who's calling?"

"It's Adam." 

There was silence. 

"Adam Wazir." 

"Oh, shit, man." Roy grumbled. "You call to chew me out again?" 

"No, I don't intend to. I'm calling to ask you something." 

"'Kay. So what'dya want?"

"I was wondering if we could meet up in person sometime, to talk about things. There's a lot- and I really mean a lot- to talk about." 

Roy huffed. "We're talking now, aren't we?" 

"Well, yes, but-" 

"But, what? What is there left to say? You made it pretty clear that you want nothing to do with me out of nowhere." 

Adam tightened his fist at his side, and reminded himself to stay calm. _Do this for Takashi's peace of mind._

"I'd just prefer to talk in person. Things didn't go so well yesterday afternoon, and I'd hate to leave things on a bad note. Could you please just meet up with me to talk? Please?" 

"Heh," Roy scoffed, "Not gonna lie, hearing you beg and grovel is a pretty good way to convince me." 

Adam decided to ignore that comment. "So, tomorrow at nine A.M? Are you free? We can meet at the coffee shop." 

"Yeah, fine. You're not planning to take much time, right? I've got other things to do and-" 

"It won't take long." Adam cut in, rolling his eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow." 

"'Kay. Bye."

* * *

The next morning, Adam awoke bright and early to prepare for the day. He went through the bag of clothing that Shiro had lent him, and picked through each item carefully. As he would hold up an article of clothing, he'd do his best to imagine how Shiro might look wearing it, and he'd smile to himself at the imagery.

In the end, he settled on a simpler outfit. A pair of jeans that fit him surprisingly well, and a pullover that was decorated with bright, contrasting colours and shapes, it was slightly worn with age- so Adam naturally concluded that it had been worn many, many times by Shiro in the eighties. 

"So tacky," Adam commented to himself, laughing beneath his breath as he looked at his outfit in the mirror. 

It was better than being stuck in formal wear, he had to admit. He hadn't felt the comfort of casual clothing in what had felt like centuries by that point. He pulled at the ends of the sleeves and brought them to his face, rubbing gently against his cheeks in a circular motion. The fabric was surprisingly soft for a sweater so old and worn, and the aroma- oh, the aroma, so delightfully woodsy and masculine. 

To pull Adam out of his thoughts was a loud knock at the door. He hadn't been keeping an eye on the time, and before he realized, it was already time to go. He left his room in a hurry and briefly checked on Alma, still sleeping quietly in bed, before he slipped out the door to be greeted by Shiro. 

"Good morning," Adam greeted, locking the door behind him. 

Shiro stared for a moment, a smile slowly breaking out on his face. "Hey, you're actually wearing my old clothes." 

"Mhm, sorry to break your heart but I'm not 'suits' anymore." 

"That's okay," Shiro laughed, "You look cute."

Adam hastily closed his mouth shut, the corners of his lips twitching into something between a smile and a grimace. A strange noise escaped the back of his throat, and he mentally scolded himself for breaking his usual calm, cool facade. 

"Are you okay?" Shiro asked, his demeanor becoming serious. 

"I'm fine," Adam quickly answered in an attempt to save face. "Just a touch nervous about today. You know how much of a prick Roy can be." 

"Aw, don't be. I'm sure it'll be fine." Shiro set his hand on Adam's upper arm, giving it a gentle pat. "I'm not nervous at all knowing that you'll be there with me." 

_'God, that's cheesy,' I think to myself, yet my heart pounds a wondrous beat._

Adam managed to muster up a smile, curtly nodded his head in gratitude. "Shall we head off?" 

"We shall." 

Shiro and Adam made their way to Shiro's car and got inside. Keith's car seat was empty for once, Adam had observed after eyeing the backseat quickly. 

"No Keith today?" 

"No. God, no." Shiro said, buckling in his seat belt. "I don't want him to get upset again incase there's any yelling. Matt is free to babysit today, anyway, so I didn't have to bother Curtis or my parents to take care of him." 

"It all works out then." 

"He's finally warming up to Matt again," Shiro laughed, "You and Kosmo are still his favourite guests, though." 

"Oh, I'm tied with a dog? How touching." Adam quipped. 

"Absolutely. In the eyes of a baby, that's the highest honour a person can receive." 

The drive to the local café was not a long one by any means. Within ten minutes, the two had arrived, parking the car at the furthest corner of the parking lot. 

The café was amply called 'Good Enough', a play on the fact that it was the only café within the small town, and very few people were willing to make the long journey to the next town over for a simple cup of coffee. 

The two had arrived to the café right on time, which meant that Roy, who often showed up late to every event, would be there twenty minutes following. They decided to head inside ahead of schedule and grab a cup of tea. Shiro kept his back to the door so as to not be seen, and Adam faced it, to ensure that he'd see Roy upon arrival. In the meantime, they spoke about light topics to keep the mood as comforting as possible. 

Shiro had asked Adam about his writing and whether he had been able to get any work done lately, to which Adam honestly replied that he hadn't. His next manuscript was due at the beginning of August, but he hadn't the time nor energy to work on it. His typewriter remained in his apartment, where he hadn't been for nearly a month, and the incomplete manuscript stayed there- still and untouched, silently collecting dust. 

When it came to be Shiro's time to speak, he spoke mostly about Keith. He had recently bought him a new baseball cap and it was the first hat that Keith didn't protest to wearing. He gushed for the remaining ten minutes about the way Keith's hair flattened at the sides of the cap, and curled across his rounded cheeks. 

"Like a little baby doll," Shiro described the image as, "Only with a lot more snot and drool." 

"Sounds cute- minus the snot, of course." Adam replied, his smile slowly fading as he caught sight of Roy entering the café. "He's here." 

Shiro took a long, deep breath, as Adam stood and waved Roy over. It didn't take him long to catch sight of Shiro, his demeanor changing drastically as he did so. 

"What the hell? You never said that he was coming." Roy grumbled, keeping his voice surprisingly low given his mood. 

"Oh, did I forget to mention?" Adam feigned shock. "My bad. Takashi will be joining us, by the way." 

"Is this supposed to be an ambush or something?" 

Shiro continued to steady his breathing, slowly but surely. 

"No," Adam replied. "Nothing of the sort. Why don't you just take a seat? We'll get this over with quick." 

Roy shifted his gaze between Adam and Shiro suspiciously for a prolonged moment, eventually succumbing to his fate and sitting in the vacant seat at the side of the table. 

"I asked Adam to set this meeting up." Shiro finally spoke, crossing his hands together on the top of the table. "We left a lot unsaid, and loose ends make me uneasy." 

"'Kay," Roy replied slowly, his tone still riddled with suspicion. 

"I guess most of all I really want to ask... Why?" 

"Why what?" 

"Why'd you leave without telling me? Why'd you agree to have kids if you couldn't handle it?"

"How was I supposed to know it was gonna be that hard?" Roy immediately raised his voice, his chest puffed out in defense. "I didn't tell you 'cause I knew you'd flip on me." 

"Of course I'd be pissed to be left alone with a sick baby, and I was, believe me-" 

"See? That's what I mean." 

"Who- Who wouldn't be upset? Wouldn't you feel pissed off if I had done the same to you?" 

Roy huffed, "Fine, whatever. Guess I'm the bad guy." 

"Oh my God," Shiro whispered beneath his breath. "Was it always this hard to get through to you?" 

"No, man, you used to be fun before you got all boring on me," Roy countered, pressing his finger on the table top, "Then, you suddenly decide you want a baby and that's all you fuckin' wanna talk about or care about until finally it's born- and then, big surprise, it turns out to be the only baby in the world with no mute button." 

"I grew up, Roy. Maybe you should try it." Shiro's hands pressed against each other so tightly that his knuckles became white. "Do you think I wanted our baby to be in constant pain? No. I felt awful. You made me feel like it was all my fault it was happening or his fault but it wasn't anybodies fault, okay? It was just unfortunate luck, and then, just like I said would happen- he got better. The sickness and pain went away. And you missed out on something great, Roy. You don't even know, and you never will." 

"Well, good for you, man. Keep telling yourself the same shit that every other miserable parent in this town does- _'Oh, I love being a parent, having my house always smelling like shit, my ears constantly ringing from the incessant crying. It's sooo rewarding.'_ Is it? Be honest. You've lost your edge and you're not the same man that you used to be. So keep telling yourself that you're happy now. I know it's a load of shit and I'm glad I got out when I di-" 

A stinging in Roy's cheek had stopped him from finishing his sentence. His head tilted to the side in stunned silence, and Shiro stared at him in wide-eyed shock. His line of vision slowly raised to Adam, who by then was standing, looking at the palm of his hand that now stung with a sharp pain. 

He composed himself very quickly, wiping his hand on the side of his pants as if he'd just touched something vile. 

"You are such a prick," Adam spoke, his voice surprisingly calm despite the atmosphere. "A selfish, rotten prick. A cheater and a deadbeat. A twenty-eight year old man with the attitude of a spoiled twelve year old. Turn your ego off for one minute, and listen to the shit that you've put this man through." 

There was a stunned silence in the café, the few other patrons and workers had turned to see what was happening by then. Adam sat back in his seat, and straightened out his sweater, as if nothing had happened. 

"Well? Takashi? Feel free to continue." 

"Jesus Christ," Roy mumbled beneath his breath, clutching onto his throbbing cheek. 

"I-uh," Shiro blinked a few times, his train of thought completely evading his mind. "I didn't want to meet with you so that we could have a yelling match, and I don't know what I was really expecting to come from this, but I know for sure that I really want closure. It's been hard for me to feel at peace with this because you left so suddenly without warning." 

"Yeah," Roy mumbled, "Alright. Yeah. Uh, I guess that was a pretty shitty thing to do. But man, I didn't wanna deal with any confrontation."

"Confrontation comes with being an adult. You can't just hurt people to avoid it. What's the worst I would've done, anyway?" 

"I don't know, man. You would've gotten pissed off. It would've been a big mess." 

"Yeah, well," Shiro hesitated, "You broke my heart instead, which frankly hurt a lot more than a confrontation would have." 

Roy remained silent. 

"And there's another thing- Adam and I became friends not that long ago and after some basic math, we realized that you were also two-timing us at the beginning of our relationship." 

"Hold up, hold up," Roy held his hands up in mock surrender, "Now you're just nit-picking. That wasn't really cheating 'cause none of us were serious at the time." 

Shiro and Adam shared an exasperated look with each other. 

"Dating two people at the same time is literally the definition of cheating." Adam stated. 

"What we had was just a fling. You even said so in your book." Roy countered. 

"It was an affair, actually. And had I known that you had a boyfriend, I would not have participated in it." 

"If it wasn't that big of a deal then why did you never tell us about each other?" Shiro asked, "Because you knew it was wrong. Don't play dumb, Roy. Own up to your mistakes."

"Fine, whatever, yeah. You wanna call it cheating so badly then sure, it was cheating. But it was a long time ago, we were just dumb kids." 

"We were grown adults." Adam groaned. 

"Do you-" Shiro looked up and took a deep, albeit brief, breath, "Do you even feel sorry about any of it? Even just a little bit?" 

Roy slumped back into his seat, his arms crossed over his chest with the tips of his fingers tapping against his upper arm. "I mean, yeah, obviously, I didn't feel great leaving you alone with the baby like that, but I was gonna lose my mind if I had to stay there any longer than I did. How are you not seeing my side of this?" 

"I see." Shiro quietly mumbled. 

_I could see the stages of grief as they passed in rapid succession on his face- the denial that subsides into dull anger, which then becomes a bargaining, a depression, concluded finally by a reluctant acceptance. There was no way for him to get through such a thick skull- the effort was futile in the end, as he feared it may be, but he kept a brave face; gallant as ever when faced with certain conflict._

"I don't think we'll be able to see eye-to-eye on this, Roy. I really don't. I want to forgive you for my own sake- my own peace of mind," Shiro spoke slowly, his voice as steady as he could manage. "But I can't honestly say that I have the ability to do that. So, I'm not going to carry this weight around anymore but... I'm not going to forgive you either." 

"Fine," Roy replied rather quickly, "Don't forgive me. I don't plan on forgiving any time soon either." 

Shiro set a bill on the table, enough to cover the cost of both his and Adam's drinks as well as a tip. He stood from his seat, slipping his wallet into his back pocket as he did so. 

"Then, I guess that settles it." Shiro concluded, "Goodbye, Roy." 

Roy smiled meekly, raising a single hand from his crossed arms. "Bye, Taks. Good luck with the baby, or whatever." 

Adam was shortly behind Shiro as he left the café, not bothering to bid a final farewell to Roy. They exchanged a quick look instead, and that was enough to make the message clear for them both. That chapter of life had officially drawn to a close. 

The ride home was silent for the first moment or so before Adam decided to break the silence. 

"Takashi, I'm sorry that didn't go as well as it should've." 

"What do you mean?" 

"He was such an ass, and you didn't get through to him even though you were being clear and concise." 

"Yeah, true," Shiro laughed, "But all I really wanted was closure, and I got that, so I'm actually feeling pretty good right now." 

"Closure?" Adam repeated, raising an eyebrow, "How was that.." his voice drifted off slowly. 

"Closure just means the process of closing something. It doesn't necessarily mean that the end is clean, or happy. It just means that it finally got a proper ending. We had the final conversation that we never got to have, I said everything that I needed to say, and now, officially, I can say that there was ending to that story." 

"Even though you didn't forgive him in the end? You feel alright leaving things like that?" 

"Yeah," Shiro smiled genuinely, "Yeah. Just saying how I felt out loud- Adam, it felt amazing. There's power in honestly stating your feelings, unleashing everything that you've kept bottled up for so long- even if they're not positive." 

"Hm, you might be on to something there," Adam mused quietly, "Hey, do you mind if we stop somewhere before you drop me off?" 

"Sure, yeah, where do you want to go?" 

"The cemetery, if you're up for it."

* * *

"Hi, dad."

Adam stood at the foot of his father's grave, the tombstone still in fresh, mint condition. The carvings, still untouched by the earth, read: 

Sohail Wazir  
June. 17th, 1923  
May. 20th, 1996

"This is my friend, Takashi." Adam said, extending a hand towards Shiro. "I don't know if you remember him, but he lives in the house next to ours." 

Shiro waved briskly, remaining silent so as to allow Adam all the time he needed to speak. 

"It feels awkward talking to a grave, and I know that you're dead and gone so there's nothing we can really do to reconcile our relationship but I think I learned something very important today- thanks to Takashi. And, what he taught me is that, closure is found in many ways. Sometimes, there's power in unforgiveness too." 

Adam sighed deeply, and felt Shiro's hand wrap around his, his eyes casting a sidelong glance towards him. He smiled vaguely. 

"I love you, dad. I always did, and part of me always will. I can't help that. I'll never really know what your thoughts and opinions were of me. But I do know one thing for sure- you and mom failed me when I needed you the most. I could think up a million excuses for you, but the truth is that none of that matters. None of it would feel justified to me." 

The air remained still without a touch of wind to accompany it. Adam tightened his grip on Shiro's hand, and Shiro gripped right back. 

"I won't spend the rest of my life regretting the way that things went between us. It's not fair to myself." Adam's voice cracked slightly. "But I won't pretend that everything was okay, either. I have to live honestly and I have to close this chapter of my life, no endings left open." 

A slight weight felt as if it were lifting from Adam's shoulders, albeit it was less than half of what burdened him, it was the start of something- the baby steps towards a fresh tomorrow. 

"So to make myself perfectly clear, and to sum this up as quickly as possible- I don't hate you, but I don't forgive you either." 

With that, Adam took a triumphant turn towards Shiro. "I think that ought to do the trick." 

"I think it sounded great," Shiro leaned inward, wrapping his arms around Adam's shoulders, and pulled him closer. "I'm really proud of you, Adam." 

Adam held his breath for a prolonged second in shock, which eventually faded into a soft smile. He raised his arms, holding them around Shiro's waist. "I'm really proud of you too, Takashi. We did good today." 

"We really did. I think we should celebrate." 

"How so?" 

"Well," Shiro mused, pulling away from the hug. "We could have a get together at my place. You know, a little party or something. Just relax and have some fun- I think we owe it to ourselves." 

"We deserve a damn parade, frankly, but I guess I could settle for a party." 

Shiro laughed, "A party it is. But, before that, I guess I should get you home, huh?"

"Mm," Adam nodded his head, "I shouldn't leave my mom alone for too long."

"In that case," Shiro extended a bent arm forward, "Shall we?"

Adam shook his head with an airy laugh, wrapping his hand around the bend of Shiro's elbow- he could tell that he was flexing his muscles to show off and found it difficult to refrain from making a witty remark about it.

"We shall."

_Many grievances come to a final conclusion that day, and we feel fulfilled as we head home together, less burdens weighing us down then when we had awoken that same morning. I watch him the entire car ride home; he can't stop smiling, and I wonder if I ever will either. During these story endings, something new has begun; a love growing in my heart that I can no longer deny._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some extra clarification- Roy isn't meant to actually be Roy Focker from Macross, it's just a gag because the man that Shiro married in the early wedding leaks looked like him. The chapter title is just a joke about how Focker and Fucker are only a letter apart so it felt fitting to censor one letter and- yeah, you get the point lol! Hope there wasn't any confusion! As usual, thanks for reading and please don't hesitate to share your thoughts with me!


	13. Where The Sun Sets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sooo sorry about how long it took me to get this update out!! :( Please forgive me! I really hope you like it, and I promise to be faster next time!

Laying back on the worn-out couch in his home, Adam tilted his head upwards as Keith crawled up his chest with hard stomps of his tiny limbs. Surprisingly strong for a baby, Adam thought, unless all babies were secretly that strong. He couldn't be sure. 

At his feet sat Shiro, using the landline to make a few local calls regarding their little get-together at the end of the week. Their parents had already all agreed to participate, as well as Matt, who never said no to a party.

Other than that, Adam didn't know anybody in town. Well, he _knew_ people, but he hadn't done any socializing during his visit, so he wasn't even sure who still lived there. 

After hanging up the landline, Shiro stated, "Curtis says he'll be able to come." 

By then Keith had crawled all the way up Adam's chest, and was pre-occupied with tightly clamping his nose shut. "That's good." Adam replied, in a nasally voice. 

Shiro chuckled, giving Keith a gentle pat on the back, "Are you trying to suffocate him?" 

"Let him." Adam grumbled, "End my suffering, Keith." 

"Please don't ask my baby to mercy kill you." Shiro picked Keith up by the under arms and scooped him into his lap. "I know you're still stressed out with your mom's situation, but I'm sure we'll be able to get her a good spot in a home in no time." 

"That place you recommended told me that they were booked _years in advance_ when I called them," Adam grumbled, "I might never find her somewhere." 

"There has to be somewhere. Maybe you could even find some place in the city, closer to where your apartment is." 

At the mention of his apartment, Adam slipped quietly into thought. 

He hadn't been back in over a month by that point. A trip that he had thought would only last a week or two had somehow turned into a summer-long venture. Surprise after surprise had awaited him, both good and bad. 

What he saw in front of him, though, was the good. 

Shiro, and Keith, two people he hadn't expected himself to grow to love so quickly, and under such unusual circumstances. 

"I'm going to try calling my uncle D'Jahno now," Shiro said after a few silent moments had passed them by. 

"Go ahead." Adam said, sneakily snatching Keith from Shiro's grasp while he was busy dialing the number. Keith giggled and quickly resumed pulling at Adam's nose with his tiny fingers. 

Adam didn't know who D'Jahno was, and he hadn't heard of him until recently, but Shiro vouched that he was somebody that he absolutely needed to meet before he left town. 

D'Jahno was a man that Shiro had known his entire life. He wasn't biologically his uncle, but he has been good friends with Tex and Krolia, and had often worked summer weekends alongside them in the peach orchard. He owned a large truck, and after a long morning of work, he'd drive out several cases of peaches to sell at the local farmers market. Sometimes, he'd even take Shiro along, and, as Shiro fondly recalled, those were some of the most memorable moments of his childhood. 

Shiro hadn't seen D'Jahno in years, long before Keith had been born, but after giving him a quick call, he was more than happy to make an appearance- especially if it involved meeting the newest little member of the Shirogane family.

"That settles my list of people. Small and simple!" Shiro concluded with a nod, "Is there anybody else that you were thinking of inviting?" 

Slipping his hands around Keith's back as he shifted his sitting position more upright, Adam shook his head, "Nope. Just my mom. I don't want her staying home by herself." 

"It should be fun, anyway. It'll be a good chance to relax and have fun." Shiro said, holding his hand out for Keith to mindlessly play with. As he tugged on his ring finger, Adam couldn't help but notice that Shiro was still wearing Roy's ring. 

He eyed it silently for a moment, and pondered whether he should ask. 

_Maybe he's still not over him, despite saying that he found his closure. It's not really my business to ask about. It's not. Really. I shouldn't._

"You're still wearing your ring." Adam commented, against his better judgement. 

"Yeah, I want to wait until the party to take it off," Shiro explained, "Make a big, dramatic spectacle of removing it." 

"How cheesy," Adam teased. More seriously, he asked, "Will you burn it? Throw it away?" 

"I was thinking of pawning it. It couldn't hurt to have the extra money."

"That's actually not a bad idea."

Shiro laughed. "Yeah, I want to buy something nice for Keith. His first birthday is in four months, and I know that sounds like a long time away but time really flies by these days. I want to have the chance to spoil him for once." 

Adam couldn't stop a teeth-revealing smile from widening on his face, "That's sweet. Don't forget to treat yourself, too." 

"This party is treat enough, honestly. Seeing the people I love most all under the same roof is going to be really special." Shiro replied, shooting Adam a smile. 

Averting his gaze, Adam looked down at Keith, who he had been mindlessly bouncing on his knee for the past several moments. It was strange how quickly such motions had become natural to him, when not long ago he hadn't even been entirely sure how to hold a baby. 

"I'm looking forward to it, too." Adam eventually replied.

* * *

"D'Jahno's here!" Shiro exclaimed from the window to the livingroom full of people. 

By that point, all the guests had arrived, including Adam and Alma, the latter of the two sitting silently on the couch battling her desire to fall asleep. 

Curtis walked into the room, holding a fumbling Keith in his arms. He wasn't crying for once, and though Curtis looked ecstatic about it, he still handed Keith off to Shiro so that he'd be ready to meet D'Jahno right away. 

"Come on, Adam, you too." Shiro said, nudging his head towards the door. "You'll really like him, trust me." 

When Adam had awoken that morning, he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to attend the get-together anymore. It wasn't that he didn't want to see any of the people, or that he didn't want to have fun. He really wasn't sure why he didn't want to, but he decided to see things through, anyway. 

Before the party began at seven in the evening, Adam had spent his day attempting to get some writing done on his father's old typewriter, but he hadn't any luck. He managed to write three paragraphs before crumbling the page up and starting again. 

On his second attempt, he managed only two. It wasn't that he was unmotivated to work, it was simply that his current story no longer interested him. It had been too long since he had worked on it that he simply didn't care for it anymore. 

It was a very basic story to begin with, even in his opinion as the author, but it was what the publishers had expected of him. Romance. The plot didn't much matter so long as it was clouded with prose about flowers, sweet longing gazes, and dialogue so sickly romantic that nobody would dare speak such words aloud. 

Maybe he was getting bored of writing. Or maybe he was just bored of the strict structures of the romance genre. 

A part of him knew the true reason was entirely different. His real life experiences were now affecting the way in which he worked. The way that he was developing feelings for Shiro was different from the way that he wrote about love. It wasn't all perfect; summed up sweetly in oh-so many soft words. There were awkward moments, sad moments, and plenty of banter to top it off. Worst of all, for the first time ever, he didn't know how to express those feelings clearly in his writing.

After a few hours, Adam gave up on trying to write altogether. He'd try again another day.

The rest of the afternoon passed by fairly quickly. Shiro had called an hour ahead to see how Adam was doing, and to let him know that he was going to start getting ready. Adam took that as his cue to get ready as well.

He had gone through Shiro's bag of clothing again, attempting to find something that was both casual and party appropriate. There weren't many options for the occasion, but what he did manage to find did the job alright. A deep red button-down shirt with a pair of black jeans made for a nice semi-casual look. The top fit loosely, thanks to Shiro's larger upper-build, yet the pants were a touch short, thanks to Adam's longer legs. It wasn't an entirely awkward fit, and it was a passable enough look that Adam left the house in it without regret. 

"Adam? You okay?" Shiro asked, hoisting Keith up on his hip, causing the baby to let out a surprised gurgle. 

Adam snapped back to reality, turning his attention towards Shiro, "I'm sorry, I zoned out."

"D'Jahno just pulled in. Do you want to come meet him?" 

"Of course," Adam answered, standing from his seat. It wasn't long before Shiro had taken him by the hand, and began to lead him out the front door towards the motorcycle parked in the driveway. Atop it sat who Adam could naturally assume was D'Jahno, a hulking man with long, brown hair and a thick beard- looking nothing at all like Adam had expected him to. 

Immediately. D'Jahno's eyes lit up. "I'll be damned. You're all grown up now." 

"It's good to see you again." Shiro said, pulling the man into a hug. 

Admittedly, Adam found it amusing to watch even Shiro needing to step on the tips of his toes in order to hug D'Jahno properly. The large man's attention was immediately captured by Keith with eyes so wide that they were practically bulging out of his skull. 

"So the rumours are true, the kid has a kid now. Can't believe my eyes, he looks just like you did." D'Jahno remarked. As he got closer, Keith cowered into Shiro's shoulder and let out loud sobs. "Well, damn. Same reaction to me, too!" 

"Sorry, nothing personal." Shiro laughed, "He startles pretty easily around new people." 

"You don't need to explain it to me. I've been through it all before with you!" D'Jahno boomed with a laugh. 

He was much louder than Adam had expected, too. 

"And who's this here? A new partner already?" D'Jahno teased, the focus now on Adam. 

"My good friend, Adam, he lives just next door." Shiro answered, "He's a very talented writer, he's even published a few books." 

"Oh, really?" D'Jahno asked with an impressed look. He took a step in Adam's direction, and offered his hand out, "I'm 'fraid I don't read much, but I appreciate anybody that can make words sound all fancy." 

Shaking his hand, Adam smiled and replied, "It's nice to meet you, D'Jahno. Takashi has told me all about you." 

"Ain't that sweet of him?" D'Jahno teased. He then leaned in closer, and added in a loud whisper, "If you ever need to hear any embarrassing stories about when he was a kid-"

"Hey!" Shiro cut in.

"-then I'm the guy to go to. I've got plenty." 

Adam sent a smirk in Shiro's direction, and then gave D'Jahno's hand a pat before pulling away from the hand shake. "We'll keep in touch." 

D'Jahno let out a loud laugh, throwing his head back as he did so, causing Keith to fall back into a fit of scared cries. 

"Whoops, my bad, lil fella," D'Jahno said in a much quieter voice, gently patting the back of Keith's head with his hand. "It's hard to turn the volume down when you get to be my age." 

"I should probably take him inside to calm him down," Shiro said, patting Keith's back with his hand. "There's drinks and food so come in and help yourself." 

"Can't say no to that." D'Jahno replied, hanging his helmet off the handle of his motorcycle. 

D'Jahno was greeted by an enthusiastic wave of party-goers, minus Alma, who had fully fallen asleep on the couch by then, her head resting on the arm rest. 

Adam sighed quietly, turning to Shiro, "I should probably take her home soon." 

"What? The party just started, you can't go yet." 

"I don't want people to feel awkward having an old lady fast asleep in the corner." 

"It's not bothering anyone, Adam. Believe me. Besides, she'll be wide awake once D'Jahno sits down and starts talking." 

"That's... probably true." 

"See?" Shiro laughed, "Just don't leave yet. I don't want you to go so early when this is your party, too." 

Adam bit down on his lip in an attempt to hold back a smile. "Sure, we could stay a little while longer."

The party had shifted back into the livingroom, with D'Jahno as the lively center of attention. He was in the middle of telling a story, seated on the couch, and as predicted, his loud voice had been enough to keep Alma awake. Shiro and Adam gave each other a quick, knowing smile. 

"How 'bout you, Taka?" D'Jahno suddenly asked, causing Shiro to turn his attention away from Adam. 

"I'm sorry, what? I didn't catch what you were talking about." 

"Bikes! Motorcycles! You still ridin'?" 

"No, not anymore," Shiro answered, "I sold my bike when I moved to the city with Roy. Traffic was a nightmare, and parking was too expensive." 

"That's too bad, you used to love riding. Thought we could compare models. Mine is fresh as they get, and rides like a dream." 

"I'm envious," Shiro replied with a breathy laugh, "All my money has been going to formula and diapers. I haven't even had the time to look at new models, much less think about them." 

"Why don't you take it for a little spin 'round the town? You can bring your buddy there with you." 

"Oh, I couldn't," Shiro said, gesturing to Keith, which then caused D'Jahno to let out a loud cackle.

"We've got a house full of adults, and you think we couldn't handle watching the baby for ten minutes?" 

"We wouldn't mind, honey, it's fine." Krolia said from the couch. 

"Yeah, Keith is finally starting to warm up to me." Curtis chimed in. 

"I mean, those are some pretty good points," Shiro admitted, turning to Adam, "What do you say? Wanna go for a ride?" 

Adam didn't have time to mentally consider his options before his mouth opened and spoke for him, "That sounds good to me." 

Everything moved very quickly after that. Curtis took Keith, who hardly protested, and Adam and Shiro were out the door at the hands of D'Jahno within the matter of a moment. He handed his helmet off to Shiro, and a second helmet held in the rear seat bag was handed off to Adam. 

The helmet wasn't easy to get on over top of his glasses, but with D'Jahno's assistance, Adam somehow managed. By that point, Shiro was already sitting on the motorcycle, getting a feel for the controls. 

"Nothing complicated about this gal," D'Jahno said to Shiro, "You'll find that her controls are fairly basic, so you've got nothing to worry about." 

"You're really trusting me on your precious new bike, huh?" Shiro smirked. 

"I've got your baby hostage while you've got mine, don't forget." D'Jahno retorted. 

"Good point," Shiro laughed, "Now's your last chance to back out, Adam. It's been awhile since I've been on one of these." 

"After how long it took me to get this helmet on, I don't think so." Adam replied, hoisting his leg over the motorcycle. 

"Just put your feet up on the pegs here," D'Jahno explained to Adam, kneeling down and tapping on them. "And you're gonna wanna hang onto your pal real tight. Trust me, he's a speed demon." 

"Pegs, hold on tight. Got it." Adam repeated, doing as instructed. He placed one foot on the peg while the other stayed on the ground, his arms slipping around Shiro's waist. His grip, at first soft, quickly tightened as Shiro started up the engine.

 _This is real, I think to myself. I'm really on a motorcycle for the first time without having thought it through. Yet, I'm not worried in the slightest. I rest the side of my helmet against his back, and I'm ready to go wherever he may take me._

"You kids be safe, alright?" D'Jahno called out. 

Shiro flashed him a quick thumbs up before beginning a steady drive down the main path, speeding up rapidly once they were off the property and had hit the road. 

It was only as they were speeding down the local roads, an occasional vehicle driving passed, that Adam realized what an unexpected turn the day had taken. His arms were gripped around Shiro's waist so tightly that he could feel the inward and outward motions as he breathed. 

He peeked over Shiro's shoulder and watched as the world sped by them in a fast-paced motion. Somehow being on a motorcycle wasn't as scary as he ever thought it might be. Although, and there was no doubt about it, Shiro was going much faster than he should be, he was also extremely careful and kept a good eye on the road. 

They rode by their old school, a worn down building where time never seemed to pass by at all. It looked exactly the same as it always had. It probably always would.

Then, they rode by the corner store, a building constantly changed by time, in an attempt to look more 'hip and trendy' to the youth. It was currently called, "Phat Deals", and though the terminology was relatively new, it still felt outdated when plastered on a building wall. 

After that, it was mostly open fields for miles and miles. Nothing but grass, trees, and untouched land as far as the eye could see. A warm orange hue was cast over the fields thanks to the setting sun in the distance. 

After a few moments, Shiro pulled over to the side of the road on a dirt patch and parked the motorcycle. 

"Is everything alright?" Adam asked, easing his grip. 

"We're in the perfect spot to see the sunset." Shiro answered, sliding down the motorcycle stand. He then extended a hand towards Adam, "Want to?" 

Although he didn't need the assistance, Adam still took Shiro's hand- just because he wanted to. He did, however, really need help to remove his helmet without snapping the arms of his glasses in the process. 

They walked through the field of grass for a moment until they were at a good distance from the road, and then sat side-by-side facing the setting sun.

The earth around them may as well have been on mute. There were no passing vehicles. Nothing. It was just the two of them, and the sun setting beneath the hills. 

"To be honest, when I woke up this morning I didn't really want to go to the party anymore." Adam admitted after the passing of a few silent moments. 

"Really? How come?" Shiro asked, leaning back on his palms. 

Adam crossed his legs, resting his elbow on his knee with his chin in the palm of his hand. "I'm not sure. I was looking forward to it but then this morning, I just couldn't stop thinking that I should cancel." 

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize." 

"No, it's not your fault. I like spending time with you. I guess I don't feel like I can relax until everything in my life is finally sorted out." 

"Take it one step at a time, Adam," Shiro replied softly, "After all, once your life is sorted out, you'll be back in the city and we won't see each other anymore. So there are still some perks to being stuck here." 

Adam smirked, giving Shiro a sidelong glance. "You just called yourself a perk?" 

Laughing, Shiro replied, "I didn't mean it in a cocky way." 

"You're not wrong, though. Meeting you was definitely a 'perk.' I don't know how I'd make it through any of this without you- the fact that it's _only_ been a month doesn't seem right."

"Yeah, it feels like it's been a lot longer than that." 

"I've come to realize that being in this town isn't so bad when you're with the right people." Adam added, his stare vacantly directed towards the sunset. "Yet I still try to isolate myself for reasons unknown. It's silly. Sorry, I'm babbling."

"Don't be sorry," Shiro replied. He leaned in closer, and placed a gentle hand on Adam's thigh. "I like that you confide in me, and I'm here for you all the way." 

It was simple, but sweet, and just enough to make Adam smile at ease. 

"Thank you, Takashi." 

"For the record, though, I am really glad that you decided to come over today." 

"Yeah? Me too." 

"Can I ask you a strange favour?" 

Adam raised an eyebrow, amused and intrigued, "Go ahead." 

Raising his left hand, the ring finger wiggling around to attract attention, Shiro asked, "Will you do the honours of getting this thing off of me?" 

"I thought you wanted to make a dramatic show of it?" Adam questioned. 

"I changed my mind, I want it to be adult and classy, in front of the setting sun." Shiro asserted. 

With a laugh, Adam turned his body around so that he fully faced Shiro, cupping his hand gently with his own, while his other hand held onto the ring. "I'd be happy to." He stated firmly, before twisting the ring around, slowly pulling it down the length of Shiro's finger. 

There was an indent left behind where the ring used to be, and the skin looked paler than the rest of his hand did. Adam held the ring out for Shiro to take, but before it could leave his grasp, he felt the unexpected warmth of Shiro's breath, his face only inches from his. 

When had they gotten so close? Adam hadn't even realize. He could see Shiro's gaze dancing between his eyes and his lips, and he fought back the urge to make the same quick glances.

"Is it okay if I..." Shiro's voice trailed off, his eyes now completely fixated on Adam's lips at this point. 

Adam closed his mouth, swallowing back nervously. He could feel a heat growing in body, his heart racing a mile a moment, but all he could say was, "Yes." 

Seconds later, Shiro grasped Adam's shoulder with his hand, and bridged the gap between their lips. Adam's eyes fluttered closed, his hand running up the length of Shiro's neck, eventually settling comfortably at the edge of his jaw. Shiro's hand had then travelled to the back of Adam's head where he absently twirled loose curls between his fingers. 

_How surprising it is that his lips are soft, parted just enough for him to ease his tongue in without being intrusive. The touch of his hands, on the contrary, is as firm as it is comforting. I never want him to let go. By the time we stop kissing, it feels like it's been forever, and not long enough all at once._

As they pulled apart from the kiss, Adam and Shiro caught their breath, faces still only inches apart from each other. 

The sun had nearly fully set at that point, and hesitantly, Shiro asked, "Should we head back now?" 

Adam nodded his head. "Yeah, they're probably wondering where we are."

* * *

The rest of the party had passed by slowly afterwards. Adam had stuck mostly around his mother to keep a close eye on her, though he had briefly interacted with D'Jahno as he did his final rounds for the evening before heading off on his way. 

Shiro did plenty of mingling with the small crowd, Keith clung closely to his side. He knew it was his last chance to see Curtis, and D'Jahno for some time, so he made the most of it. 

After Matt had left, early due to his classes the following day, Adam stood from the couch, extending his hand to help his mother stand.

"Are you leaving?" 

Shiro had snuck up so suddenly that it caused Adam to let out a short gasp. 

"I thought it might be a good time to. Mom looks like she needs to get to bed." 

"Hang on and I'll walk you home. I insist." Shiro stated, not giving Adam much room to object. After handing off Keith to his parents, he escorted the two out the door and they began walking to Adam's house in silence. 

Adam wasn't sure what to say after what had happened in the grass fields. He and Shiro didn't talk on the drive home, and they hadn't spoken after returning to the party. It didn't feel uncomfortable exactly, but it still left Adam feeling a twinge of nerves. 

When they had arrived to the front door, Alma entering the house first, Adam was almost ready to shut the door without bidding Shiro a proper farewell, but before he could, Shiro had placed a hand around his elbow and gave him a gentle tug back. 

"About earlier..." Shiro murmured, though Alma was already far out of earshot at that point. "I'm sorry for just springing that on you all of a sudden."

"No, it's fine." Adam quickly responded, "You asked first. I appreciate that." 

"Yeah, but..." Shiro's voice trailed off. 

"But?" 

"It still came out of nowhere. I got so close that you must've felt pressured to say yes." 

"I wanted to kiss you, too." Adam affirmed, "So don't be sorry." 

Shiro smiled meekly, "Yeah?" 

Adam nodded his head. 

"I guess now we just need to decide where we go from here." 

Swallowing back, Adam bluntly stated, "I think we both know the answer already." 

His expression sinking slightly, Shiro answered, "I'm fresh out of divorce, and you'll be going back to the city soon." 

"It just... It couldn't work if we tried starting something now."

"You're right. We can stay friends though, hm?" 

At that, Adam smiled, and took a step further into his house, "Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way." 

"Good night, Adam." 

"Good night, Takashi."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this far, and don't forget to share your thoughts with me!! ;)


	14. The Orchard at Midnight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I apologize for the wait! I'm really sorry this took so long! I hope you enjoy!!

Days passed silently as the June air grew in humidity. 

Despite their talk at the end of the party, Adam and Shiro hadn't seen each other since. As much as Adam wanted to be the first to initiate contact, he couldn't help but let his worrisome thoughts get the best of him. 

His feelings for Shiro were something that he had grown certain of. What he hadn't expected was the prospect that they may be returned. 

He had first expected that his crush would be a fleeting thing, easing with the final whispers of summer, dissipating completely when it was time for him to return to the city. Now, he wasn't so sure. 

_The fact of the matter is that Takashi initiated the first kiss. He wouldn't have done that if he didn't feel something too, right? ...RIGHT?!_

Adam slammed the cover of his journal shut, embarrassed by his own childish rambling. 

"You're a romance novelist, for christ's sake. Get yourself together." He grumbled to himself, head in his hands with clumps of hair tightly gripped between each finger. 

_I was the one who shot down the possibility of us dating. If I had allowed him to continue speaking, would he have asked me out? What would I have said in return?_

When the landline suddenly began to ring, Adam quickly jumped to his feet and hurried to the wall where it was mounted. 

"Hello?" He greeted in a rush. 

"Hello is this the Wazir residence?"

Unexpectedly, the voice on the other line was high-pitched. 

It wasn't Shiro. 

"Yes, this is Adam speaking. May I ask who's calling?" 

"This is Clara from Northside Manor nursing home. I'm calling regarding your mother's admission papers." 

Adam smiled with the sense of relief that he'd been dying to feel for awhile. "Yes? You've received them?"

"Yes. I'm calling to let you know that they've been disapproved." 

Ah. Anxiety returns. 

"Why? What's wrong with them?" 

"Simply put, your mother doesn't seem to be ill enough to be put in our nursing home. We have other applicants that need the admission more." 

"Not ill enough? She has dementia." Adam responded. "She can't very well stay at home by herself. She might hurt herself, or worse." 

"I'm sorry but there's nothing we can do for you." 

"Alright. Thank you." Adam concluded, before slamming the phone back on the receiver.

* * *

It would be a lie to say that Shiro's kiss hadn't been on Adam's mind during each day that passed by without any interaction. 

It had been on the forefront of his mind while doing mundane activities, and danced through his thoughts even when he knew he should be focusing on more pressing matters. 

A kiss could mean nothing. It could've been spur of the moment- Shiro was a spontaneous man, after all. 

Adam also considered the fact that he could be blowing the meaning completely out of proportion because his novels greatly exaggerated the deep meaning of every little movement made by another person. 

_But... my own experience with this sort of thing is pretty limited, isn't it?_

Real love was strange and unconventional. 

It could mean seeing a childhood neighbour in a whole new light. 

It could mean only realizing he's really, truly in love with him when he sees him weeping in the backseat of his car, clinging onto his clueless little baby for support.

It could mean staring outside the kitchen window and watching as he picked peaches from the trees on his property and praying, despite not being particularly religious, that he would come over and make the first move. 

But he hadn't, and he probably wouldn't. And so, Adam decided that he wasn't going to hold his breath in anticipation. 

_I'll go to you first, but only after I've sorted out the tiresome mess I've made in my mind._

* * *

More days passed. More rejections were faced. Adam had known to expect that much, yet he still couldn't help feeling that overwhelming sense of dread that he may never actually get the chance to leave town again. 

It felt meaningless paying rent for an empty apartment.

* * *

“We have no rooms currently.”

“We’ve accepted another applicant instead.”

“We have some vacant rooms but we must warn you ahead of time that we have several aggressive residents in the building that have gotten violent with others on occasion.”

The remainder of the week stayed the same. No luck.

In the meantime, Adam resumed working on his novel with less than a month left to finish it. Working through the apathy he felt towards the story was no easy feat, but he wasn’t well-known enough as an author to be picking and choosing what he got to work on.

Alma’s dementia wasn’t getting any better. Although that was no surprise, it wasn’t possible for it to improve. Regardless, knowing that fact didn’t make it any easier for Adam to witness his mother be consumed deeper by the illness.

Many times over the course of a day Adam would need to remind Alma that her husband had died months ago. Sometimes, the news would upset her and other times she wouldn’t react at all. Dementia was strange like that.

* * *

The 26th of July was a rainy Friday. It began to drizzle in the early hours of the morning, transforming into a full-on storm by the afternoon. 

Adam spent the day cooped up indoors, boxing up his father’s old possessions, as well as some of his mother’s for when the time came to move her out. It felt like it would never happen, but Adam liked to be prepared ahead of time anyway. He left her necessities where she could easily access them, and packed away everything that she could make do without. 

The poor weather had a negative effect on Alma’s mental state. Adam had heard of the term ‘sun-downing’ before- regarding seniors that became more confused once the sun had set, but it hadn’t occurred to him that a rainy day would have the same effect. 

Every five minutes, they had the same conversation again and again. It was a long day. 

She refused to eat anything except for soup, vegetable and pea specifically. Vegetable soup in the morning, pea soup for lunch, and vegetable soup once more for dinner. Occasionally, Adam could convince her to eat a roll or some crackers. 

Yet, nothing -not a single point of his life- could even compare to the difficulty of convincing Alma to go to bed for the night. 

She stubbornly refused, instead pacing the hallways over and over again. There were a few times when she would ask where her room was. Adam would show her but she would still refuse to get into bed. She’d begin to wander again. Rinse and repeat. 

It wasn’t until a quarter to twelve that she finally, at the very least, took a seat on the edge of her bed.

Adam sighed as he threw himself onto the couch where he still had a decent view of his mother's room. How long would this go on for? How many sleepless nights would there be before somewhere would take her in?

It felt like it would never end.

* * *

At 12:23am, Adam suddenly shot up from the couch. He had unintentionally drifted off into a quiet sleep after his fatigue had gotten the best of him. 

Alma was no longer in her room, nor anywhere within visible sight. 

Adam wasted no time in rushing from room to room while calling out to her. 

There was no reply.

Outside, the storm continued to rampage through the town, the strong winds audible from even indoors. Rain pounded against the windows, and lightning crackled from a distance. 

Adam swallowed back, fearing the worst. 

If she had enough time to get out of the house, then who knew how far she could have gone. 

Rushing to the front of the house, Adam slipped on the nearest pair of shoes, a worn out pair having belonged previously to his father. 

Confirming his worst fears was the unlocked front door, not clicked fully into place, with a pool of rain water that had collected on the tiled floor. 

_Please be close by, please be close by._

Adam’s clothing became drenched as soon as he stepped outside the house. Raindrops struck his glasses, dripping down the frames which swiftly minimized his vision. 

“Mom?” He called out, his voice splitting with a crack as he strained to be heard over the wind. “Mom?!”

The street lights were too far away to aid Adam in his search, the house lights barely enough to illuminate beyond the front porch. Alma was nowhere in immediate sight and there was no telling how far she could have gotten during Adam’s brief slumber. 

“Mom!” Adam bellowed into the night air, his hands cupped around his mouth to amplify the sound. 

His biggest worry was whether she wandered out into traffic or not. He began a quick dash down the long driveway while calling out for his mother, the mud beneath his feet threatening to make him lose his footing after any wrong step. 

As he got closer to the street, visibility increased, albeit hazily, beneath the lights of the street lamps. 

“Mom! Mom, can you hear me?!”

After no response, Adam rushed back down the driveway, this time with the goal of searching for his mother in the family’s large backyard. He yelled and called for her the entire time, but received no response. There was no trace of her in the area. 

He didn’t know what to do. His heart was pounding out of his chest, his emotions hanging at the back of his throat with a weight so heavy that he couldn’t swallow it back. 

He hurried back into the house, his clothes and hair dripping with rain water. He left muddy prints behind him on the tiled floor as he made his way to the wall-mounted phone. 

His finger lingered over the ‘9’ button for only a second before instinctively typing in a number that he was far more familiar with.

After the first two rings, a tired voice answered, “H…Hello?” 

“Takashi?” Adam breathed heavily, doing his best to hide his panic. “I’m sorry for calling you at this hour-“

“Adam? Is everything okay?” Shiro’s voice had instantly become alert. 

“No, I-“ Adam took a breath. “I know it’s a long shot but have you seen my mother? She slipped out of the house and I can’t find her anywhere. I’m sort of freaking out, and I don’t know what to do.” 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I haven’t seen her but I’ll be right out to help you look. Just hold tight.” 

“I really couldn’t ask you to do that, Takashi.” 

“I’ll be right out, okay? Meet me at the fence.” 

“Ah…Okay. Yeah, I’ll see you.” 

Before leaving the house a second time, Adam grabbed a proper jacket and threw it over his drenched clothing. It wasn’t ideal but the added warmth was nice, and he could give it to his mother once they had found her. He feared how cold she had become with her thin skin, and petite frame.

* * *

As promised, Shiro was quick to meet Adam at the fence's edge. He was still wearing sweatpants and a tank top with a light jacket lazily thrown atop. His hair had already become dripping wet with rain water on his short walk over. 

"Hey!" Shiro immediately greeted, "Where's the last place you saw her?" 

"In the house," Adam answered, his weight rested against his palm as he leaned over the fence. "I didn't manage to see her slip outside but I know that she's definitely not inside." 

"You checked the street?" 

"Yes, right away." 

"Good thinking." Shiro smiled meekly. "I brought a flashlight, why don't we start in your yard and then make our way over to mine? I don't think she could have gotten very far in this weather." 

"Sure. I just hope we find her before she catches pneumonia, or worse."

"We will, don't worry." Shiro slipped his legs over the fence one at a time. Luckily for him, it was a short fence that only came up to his lower thighs in height. 

With the flashlight guiding them through the darkness, Adam and Shiro made their way across the backyard without spotting anything besides the odd set of glowing animal eyes hidden in the forestry. 

The grass in the yard had been overgrown since spring but it wasn't long enough to hide a person, no matter how small they were. 

"Lets check the orchard," Shiro suggested, "Your mother has always loved the peach trees so it's worth a try." 

Adam tried his best to think as positively as Shiro did. "Yeah, sure." 

"We'll find her, Adam. I promise." 

Weaving throughout the trees of the peach orchard during a booming storm had been easier said than done. The wind whipped through the trees, causing the thinner branches to swing around violently. 

The thought of holding on to Shiro's arm to keep close had occurred to Adam but he decided not to in the end. They still hadn't spoken since the night of the kiss, and even then, they had never discussed it in full detail. Not that Adam's decision mattered much anyway, because a moment later, he felt Shiro grip loosely around the crook of his elbow. 

"Be careful," Shiro warned in hushed tones, "We don't want to get separated." 

Adam nodded his head, but didn't reply. He kept his gaze solely forward, his eyes fixated in the distance, looking for any sight of movement beyond the raindrops on his glasses clouding his vision. 

"I'm sorry for waking you," Adam said, filling in the silence as they searched. "I'm especially sorry if I woke Keith up." 

"He's a good sleeper, don't worry." Shiro laughed. "He's like a little rock these days, it's been amazing."

"I'm envious. My mother doesn't sleep at all." 

Shiro let out a low chuckle. He continued to slowly move the flashlight from left to right as he surveyed the areas between the trees. As they went further into the orchard, Adam had a more difficult time seeing through his fogged up lenses.

"I'm guessing you haven't found a home yet?" Shiro asked. 

"It's been rejection after rejection." Adam grumbled, "They're all either full, have aggressive patients, or they think she's not ill enough to be in a home." 

"I'm sure they'll be convinced she's more than qualified when they hear she's been wandering outdoors during a thunderstorm." 

"If we can ever find her." Adam sighed. 

"We will. Don't worry." 

Another moment passed by. The wind had lessened just enough to keep the branches from dancing around as violently. 

"I'm sorry I haven't called lately to check up on you." Shiro spoke again. 

"The phone goes both ways, so it's not like I can judge you for that." 

"I thought you might want some distance after the party." 

"Why?" 

Shiro elbowed Adam's side, "You know. The kiss." 

"I told you before that I didn't mind." 

"I know but there was the chance that maybe you changed your mind? And I didn't want to be intrusive so I thought I'd wait until you approached me first." 

Adam snorted as he held back a laugh. 

"So it sounds as silly as it felt?" 

"No, no, it's just-" Adam tightly pursed his lips together to form a thin smile that veiled his amusement. "I was doing the same thing." 

"Boy, what a match we are."

Adam didn't reply.

Infact, he hadn't heard what Shiro had said. His attention was captured by a small movement hidden between the trees, a pale set of legs perched upon a vacant stump that were twitching ever-so subtly. Adam's heart immediately stopped. 

"Mom?" He called, his voice more hesitant than before, as if begging his eyes to be deceiving him. 

He charged forward, Shiro not far behind him after he'd caught the same sight. 

There, in the center of a small circle of trees, sat his mother on an old stump. Her head was rested against the nearest trees and her eyes closed. Adam fell to his knees, immediately observing for signs of life. After seconds, the exhale of her breath was revealed in the form of a cloud escaping her mouth and disappearing into the frigid night air. 

Gently touching her hand, Shiro observed, "Her skin is cold to the touch."

"Mom?" Adam called softly, giving Alma's shoulder a gentle nudge, "Wake up, please." 

Alma's eyes slowly fluttered opened, her eyebrows knit in confusion and her stance timid at the sight of the two men. "What's happening?" she asked, before she could fully awake. 

"You wandered outside by yourself." Adam explained. He removed his jacket, and slid it over Alma's shoulders.

"I didn't do that," Alma objected, gripping onto the inner corners of the jacket. "Why would I do that? It's freezing." 

"You did, mom." Adam stated firmly. "You had us worried half to death." 

"Come on, we'll walk you home." Shiro added, extending his hand to Alma. 

Slowly but surely, they managed to get Alma on her feet, weaving through the peach orchard once more, with less wind to hold them back that time. 

"I don't understand why I would do that," Alma continued to mutter. "I wouldn't walk out in the middle of the night." 

Adam shot an exasperated eye roll in Shiro's direction, and Shiro fought back the urge to laugh.

* * *

Once the three had arrived to the Wazir residence, the first order of business was ensuring that Alma was warmed up, and in clean clothing. Shiro put the kettle on for some tea as Adam helped Alma get dressed. Afterwards, Adam finished making the tea while Shiro did a quick towel-dry of Alma's wet hair. 

Adam set a steaming cup infront of Alma, who quietly shook her head. "No thank you, dear, I think I'll try to get some sleep." 

"Sure, do you remember where your room is?"

"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I know that?" Alma grumbled. As she walked away, she headed to Adam's room instead, prompting getting onto the bed and pulling the covers over herself.

"You know what?" Adam grumbled quietly, "I'm not even mad. I'm just glad that she's finally going to sleep." 

"You must be exhausted yourself." Shiro commented. 

"Funny enough, I feel wide awake now." 

Shiro laughed. He grabbed a clean, unused towel from the pile that he had assembled after they had entered the house in a panic. He held it up against Adam's still-wet curls, and gently took his time in rubbing them dry. Adam closed his eyes, not particularly minding the closeness of the other man. Combined, the two of them smelled like a mixture of wet grass, and muggy night air- a scent far more pleasant now that they were safely indoors.

"Thank you for your help tonight, Takashi." 

"I didn't do that much but you're welcome." Shiro laughed. 

"You did, though. I can always count on you." Adam hummed.

His mind was suddenly filled with recollections of Shiro's lips against his own, the touch of his hands as they ran through his hair, firm yet flexible in his touch. Adam shot his eyes open instantly, his posture tensed. He knew it was a topic that couldn't be ignored for much longer. "Can we talk? About the kiss." 

Shiro's smile faded vaguely as he replied, "I thought we did already." 

"I shut you down before you could say much, so it left me wondering." 

"Yeah? About what?" 

"Like... What did it mean, exactly?" Adam's look was nearly pleading, his eyebrows sunken beneath the frames of his glasses. 

"Well, it's means that..." Shiro's voice drifted off faintly as he thought over what to say next, picking his each word with caution, "I wanted to kiss you." 

"But why?" 

"What do you mean why?" Shiro almost laughed, but stopped himself when he noted how serious Adam's expression was. "You really only ever want to kiss a person for one reason." 

"Can you spell it out for me? Clearly?" 

"I like you, Adam." Shiro said plainly. "I really do. I know we haven't known each other for long but it's been becoming pretty clear lately. It's okay if you don't feel the same way, and I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable." 

Adam didn't know whether to feel relief or panic in that moment. To have his feelings returned was somewhat bittersweet, knowing that a relationship couldn't realistically work out. 

"No, it's fine. I just wanted to be sure because, well," Adam replied, "obviously I like you, too."

It was clear as ever- the look on Shiro's face as he tried to stop himself from smiling only to fail and have his smile grow tenfold. 

"I wonder what's worse-" Shiro spoke, the towel in his hands slowly sliding down to Adam's shoulders, "Trying to halt our feelings completely on the spot, or letting things play out while they can, knowing ultimately that we'll have to go separate ways."

"I don't know, I really don't." Adam replied. No matter how often he had wondered the same thing, the answer never became clear. "We won't know until we try either one." 

"So it's a matter of picking our poison. Which do you say?" 

"Takashi, I'll be completely honest with you," Adam stated firmly, causing Shiro to swallow back at the seriousness. His lips twitched into a smile at the sight. "I don't think I could halt my feelings for you even if I tried." 

As if a wave of relief had washed away his every doubt, Shiro's grin returned twice as strong. "Really?" 

"Mm, really." 

"Cool." Shiro replied, slowly nodding his head, grin still fresh on his face. 

"Cool? That's all you have to say?" 

Laughing, Shiro added, "Just give me a second to process, okay?" 

His touch delicate and curious, Adam placed the tips of his fingers on Shiro's cheeks, as if he could now see his face in a new light. 

"But... Lets not label ourselves anything. Lets just see where things take us." Adam was quick to stipulate.

"I'm fine with that," Shiro responded, tilting his head gently to the side, "We should probably keep this between us. That way we don't get any intrusive questions." 

"I agree." Adam replied with a smile. Who could he tell anyway? His mother, who he would have to remind every five minutes? "It's officially unofficial, then." 

Shiro chuckled, letting a deep warm breath out of his nose. He leaned inward, pressing his forehead against Adam's. "So does this mean I can kiss you again?" 

"Again and again, if you want to." _Until we decide where to take things from there._

That was more than enough enthusiasm to inspire Shiro to bridge the gap between him and Adam, the touch of his lips still unexpectedly cold from the weather outside. He placed his hands on Adam's hips and pulled him closer with a tender grasp. By then, Adam's palms had completely engulfed Shiro's cheeks, holding them with a newfound desire to explore the features of the man's face, eager to acquaint himself with every detail.

* * *

"You're really positive that this will make a difference?" Adam asked, giving an uncertain look to Shiro. Keith, who sat comfortably in Adam's arms, was busy chirping with excitement as he tugged at Adam's glasses, his other hand shoved into his own mouth. 

They stood in the middle of a lobby that was decorated to look like a vintage family room complete with a mint green sofa and a 1950s drum style coffee table. Shiro and Adam were third in line at the front desk while Alma had taken a seat on the couch beside another senior. 

"It's worth a try, right?" Shiro shrugged. 

It was a long-term care home that Adam had already been rejected by weeks ago when he had applied. He had never stepped foot inside before, having applied by mail, but he had to admit that it was a quaint little place with cute decor. He didn't want to give them too much credit, though. He was still bitter over the rejection. 

Keith had moved his attention to tugging at Adam's lips by that point, giggling madly each time he let go and Adam's lip slapped back into place. It was enough to entertain him until the three had finally reached the front of the line. 

"Hi, how can I help you?" The woman at the desk asked. Adam immediately recognized the sound of her voice from when they had spoken over the phone. Her name tag, reading 'Clara', was enough to confirm it. 

"Hi, there were some application papers sent in for Alma Wazir awhile back that were rejected on unfair grounds and we were wondering how we could go about getting those re-assessed." Shiro's tone was politely professional. 

"Re-assessed?" Clara repeated the word, as if not knowing the meaning. "I don't know if we can do that." 

"There has to be something that we can do. Could we fill out a new application?" 

"I can't promise it will make any difference if it was rejected in the first place." 

"As he said," Adam cut in, "It was for completely unfair reasons." 

"Well, what were the unfair reasons?" 

"I was told that my mother wasn't 'ill enough', which is completely false. She has dementia, she never sleeps, she even wandered out of the house late at night, and-" 

As Adam's voice raised, Keith whimpered in intimidation, a warning shot indicating that he'd burst into tears if he didn't calm his tone. Adam took a deep breath, and gently rubbed the back of Keith's head to soothe him. 

Then, he got an idea.

"And with the baby around, we're constantly worried about what could happen. We're terrified that she might try to take him along while wandering one day. It's a danger to the both of them and if we don't get her into a home soon enough then it's only a matter of time before it happens." 

Clara shared a passing glance with Keith, offering him a polite smile in greeting as she did so. 

"We hadn't been made aware of your living situation." She said, returning her attention to the adult men. "Of course we'll have to factor that in as well." 

"Great to hear, Clara." Adam stated, hoisting Keith against his hip. The baby leaned his head on Adam's shoulder, mindlessly sucking on his thumb. "My partner and I have faced a lot of rejection in these types of places and we're hoping that you guys will be different." 

From the corner of his eye, Adam could see the corners of Shiro's lips curl into a knowing smile. 

"Of course, yes, I'd be happy to help." Clara's entire demeanor had suddenly changed. "Let me grab you a new application and have you fill it out. We could even take your lovely mother on a small tour of the home if you'd like." 

"That would be great, thank you." 

In the blink of an eye, Clara had disappeared from sight, running into a back office to grab an application. 

Smugly, Shiro whispered to Adam, "Thought we weren't labeling ourselves?" 

"I'm sorry," Adam held back a laugh, "I saw an opportunity and I didn't want to pass it up." 

"Nothing like a cute baby and the fear of getting sued for discrimination to get the job done." 

They shared a laugh together, composing themselves once Clara arrived back at the desk. 

"Here's the application! You can fill it out right now." Clara explained with a smile, "Don't worry about the details too much. Now that I know your living situation, I'll make sure you don't have a hard time getting in." 

Shiro bit down on his lips, stifling another laugh while Adam elbowed him in the ribs. "Thank you, Clara. You've been a great help."

* * *

"That's the last of her things." Shiro proclaimed after setting the final box down in Alma's new room. 

It had taken a few days for the papers to process, and for Alma to be officially accepted as a Northside Manor resident, but once she had, Adam had already had her things pre-packed and ready to go. Shiro had been more than happy to assist when it came to actually moving her in. 

"Perfect. Now it's just unpacking and decorating while she's in the dining rooms for breakfast." Adam exclaimed, happily clapping his hands together. 

"I can't believe that actually worked." Shiro snickered. 

"Hm?" 

"The partner thing. I still find it amusing." 

"It's not a complete lie anyway." 

"Yeah. Not for much longer." 

Adam raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" 

"Adam, this is what you were struggling so long for. Now there's nothing tying you down to this town." Shiro explained with a sigh, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I'm happy for you but it's sort of bittersweet knowing that we only lasted for a few days- of which we hardly got to see each other." 

"Hey, that's not true." Adam approached Shiro, and stood above him, cupping his cheeks in the palms of his hands, "I still have to clean out my house, find a storage unit for my parents old things, and get the yard ready for the property to be sold. Realistically speaking, that could take me the rest of the summer." 

Shiro placed a hand atop Adam's and gently lowered it, locking their fingers together with a loose grip. "I'll help you as much as I can, but..." 

"But?" 

"I intend to take my time doing it." 

Adam grinned, unable to resist pressing his lips delicately against Shiro's any longer. The man reciprocated immediately, his hand running through Adam's hair as he pulled him in closer, kissing him with no intention of stopping any time soon. 

_It's strange when I think of how, only days ago, I would do anything to get out of this town._

 _Now, with the touch of his lips against mine, and his strong hands holding me close, I can't think of anywhere else that I'd rather be._

_This is going to be a problem._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this chapter, we finally reach the beginning of the final arc of Peaches! It's bittersweet to be reaching the conclusion of this story but I intend to make the final chapters detailed and worth your while! I thank you all who have stuck around with this story until this point, I'm so grateful you've put in the time to read and review it!! Truly, the support has helped me continue to go forward with this story! As always, please share your thoughts with me because I love to hear them! <3


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